


The Loneliest of Them All

by StoneMaskedTaliesin



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game), RWBY
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Body Horror, Crossover, Gen, Horror, just a bit but still there, ozpin wishes he didn't have to deal with this, past trauma, weiss has to play at cardcaptor sakura
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2020-06-26 23:23:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 55,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19778605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StoneMaskedTaliesin/pseuds/StoneMaskedTaliesin
Summary: "The dreams of a dying kingdom, now free to wreak havoc on the waking world. What should have been separated, joined together by you, Wielder."Weiss Schnee had wanted to master summoning. But she hadn't been so desperate as to summon a creature that had never walked under the skies of Remnant. But she had, and the Hollow Knight wasn't the only thing that followed. Now armed with a strange artifact from a moth, she must put the dreams of the dying Hollownest back to rest.At least she isn't alone.





	1. The Knight Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Weiss Schnee summons a Knight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and Hollow Knight do not belong to me. They belong to Roosterteeth and Team Cherry.

**Chapter 1: The Knight Part One**

_No cost too great..._

“Ugh!”

Weiss Schnee was not prone to anger. Or, at the very least, childish bursts of anger. Yet, if anyone else were to have been in the training room with her, they would’ve seen Weiss stomping the ground angrily, with only her pride in her weapon preventing her from lobbing it at the wall.

Weiss was a bit of a perfectionist. She knew this, and she didn’t consider it a bad thing. If you learnt something, you might as well learn to be the best at it. Which is why the metaphorical wall in front of her irritated her so much. No matter how she tried, how much effort and aura, sweat and tears she put into it-

She still could not summon anything.

The glyphs of the Schnee family, which she was vastly proficient with, refused to yield their final art to her. And she had tried, Oum knew. She had tried everything she could, and still nothing. And she couldn’t even ask her team for help - this wasn’t a thing she could ask anyone, save Winter.

Gritting her teeth, she stood straight and held Myrtenaster out. The glyphs appeared in seconds, the act having become ingrained into her soul. And yet, no matter how she tried, the icy blue glyphs refusing to turn into pure white - refused to summon forth even a Creep.

She held the glyph for a good seven minutes, pouring her very will into it. And her only reward was the faint hum of her semblance.

With a frustrated cry she let go of the glyph, letting it dissipate into the air, and violently sat down. It was only what was left of her pride at the moment that prevented her from burying her face into her hands.

Why? Why couldn’t she do it!?

She was broken out of what might’ve been the start of a spiral of self loathing by her Scroll’s ringtone. Regaining composure and most definitely not rubbing her eyes, she grabbed the Scroll from her bag.

_‘Hey, Weiss! Where r u? It’s almost time for team dinner! U cant miss it, leader’s orders!’_

She could practically hear Ruby’s voice and couldn’t help but smile a little.

_‘I’ll be there in a bit’_

_‘U better!’_

Sighing, she stood up and shifted into her stance once more.

One last time couldn’t hurt, though truth be told she wasn’t expecting much…

Weiss shook her head and swiped Myrtenaster through the air, as if slashing through her doubts. She would never be able to unlock the last art of the glyphs with that attitude!

Thrusting Myrtenaster out again, and the glyphs thrummed into existence once more. Gritting her teeth, Weiss poured all her will, and the glyphs began to spin. Yet still, not white but blue. She ignored her fatigue, her doubts, and her slight headache. She ignored everything by the glyphs.

“Come forth!” she cried out, thrusting Myrtenaster again.

Nothing.

Something inside her sank and she grit her teeth, making to dispel the glyphs-

The glyphs changed colour. Not into icy white or even black, but into a strange hue of pink, red, and orange. Her headache, which had been a simple dull ache, turned into a spike of pain. And she would’ve brought her hands to her face if she could move. Stuck standing, unable to move, and headache robbing her vision she could do nothing as the glyphs spun faster and faster, becoming brighter and brighter, until they were a blinding disk. She could feel heat on her skin, as if she had used fire dust, and she couldn’t move.

“ _ **THE LIGHT WILL NEVER CEASE!”**_

The roar deafened her and tears sprung to her eyes as the glyphs violently turned pitch black, small embers of light flying away.

And in front of her own eyes, something slithered out of the now pitch portal. Something huge, with black body and stark white mask.

The Grimm fell onto the ground, motionless and for a moment Weiss thought that was it. And then an arm pressed against the ground and the Grimm slowly stood up, looming over her.

She was going to die.

The hold over her body broke and Weiss fell, too exhausted to continue to stand.

She never hit the ground.

The Grimm lurched forward and Weiss found herself cradled in the crook of a long thin arm. Eyes like bottomless pits stared down at her from a white mask. Even as she slipped into unconsciousness, part of Weiss recognized the absence of blazing red markings and sheer hatred that were synonymous with the Grimm.

“What…?” she managed to croak out, reaching towards the creature, before finally slipping away.

* * *

_No cost too great..._

* * *

“Weiss is taking a real long time,” Yang said.

This was self evident. Team RWBY, minus the W, were standing outside the lunch hall. A lunch hall filled with food and people and dammit, she shouldn’t have skipped lunch-

Next to her, Blake looked up from the book she was reading.

“She said she was going to train, last I saw her.”

“Then we’ll head to the training rooms!”

Ruby, who had been pacing so much that Yang was fairly certain she had left a little trough in the ground, declared this angrily – or as angrily as Ruby could get – before running off in a flash of rose petals.

“Rubes, wait!”

“We better go after her,” Blake sighed, marking her page.

They jogged after her – taking care of Ruby after she had unlocked her Semblance had taught Yang that running would just tire you out before you’d catch her – following the trail of rose petals until they reached the fitness wing of Beacon. Ruby was zipping around, peaking into each room while calling out, “Weiss! Weiss!”

“She does know that she can just search for the rooms with the hazard lights on them, right?” Blake said.

Yang chuckled and walked down the corridor, past her little sister. In fact, only one of the training rooms had their hazard lights on. And three guesses of which room Weiss was probably in?

“Oh Weissy~!” Yang singsonged, banging on the door.

A faint gust of wind and petals told her that Ruby was standing behind her, and she could feel Blake settling beside her.

They waited for a moment, with silence their only response. Yang banged on the door once more, a bit more forcefully.

“Weiss?” she called out.

Still nothing.

“Weiss?” Ruby said, concern creeping into her voice.

“Weiss, are you okay in there?”

Still nothing but silence.

Blake shifted beside her, tensing. Yang did the same, tapping into her Aura.

“Weiss, if you don’t open the door-”

The door exploded outwards, slamming into Yang and sending a wave of shadows flowing over them.

“Yang!” Ruby cried out, rushing to where her sister was on the ground. Blake, equally concerned, stepped in front of her two teammates, hands held out in what little hand to hand she knew. Under her breath Blake cursed herself for not bringing her weapon, though she knew she had no way of predicting...this…

Yang cracked open her eyes, now fiery red, and sat up with a wince.

“Yang, are you alright!?”

“I’m fine Ruby. What happ...”

The three girls caught sight of the monster that stepped out of the room at the same time. Monster was the only way to describe it. It loomed over all of them, even Yang, and though its body was gangly it did not make it any less intimidating. A long tattered grey cloak was draped over the pitch black body. It’s head was a sharp contrast, pure stark white with two elongated horns and eyes like ink.

And in the crook on the monster’s spindly arm was Weiss.

“Weiss!”

Blake leapt herself at the monster, hands shaped like claws while Yang launched herself from the ground, fist cocked back.

“Let go of he-!”

The monster threw it’s head back and-

It was a scream. Had to be. But instead of a piercing scream or an sort of sound, what followed was nothing. A nothing so loud it drove away all sound.

In the sudden deafening silence that followed the monster lunged past the stunned Yang and Blake, rushing down the corridor.

After a few tries of speaking and failing, sound returned and Yang found herself yelling to Ruby.

“Go after that thing!”

She didn’t have to say it twice. Ruby moved, disappearing in a flash of red as she chased after the monster and Yang scrambled up to her feet, pulling Blake along as they ran after them.

* * *

_No cost too great..._

* * *

The Knight ran through the unfamiliar halls. Hallownest had changed while it was sealed – the material under it’s feet was strange, and the bugs even stranger. How much time had passed?

The Knight slammed through the first window it saw, curling around the noble as it did. The outside air felt strange too, and the color – the sky was as orange as the Light, the Plague! What had happened!?

The Black Egg Temple was never meant to be opened. Had it failed it’s duty, had the Plague been set free?

The Knight hunched down at the sight of it, overwhelmed. And something slammed into its back.

As far as attacks went, it wasn’t very strong. All it did was snap the Knight back into the present, and it reacted appropriately, standing to its full height, cradling the noble protectively.

A strange small red and black bug stood in front of them, without weapon or mask. The aggression was clear though, as the bug moved their hands as if to fight it. And the bug’s silver eyes gleamed with anger…

“Let go of her, monster!”

The Knight tensed, wondered what to do next. How was it to protect the noble? And what did this red and black bug want? They did not seem to be infected by the Light, though there was a silver light shining in their eyes…

“Ruby!”

The Knight turned to see the yellow and black bugs running towards them. With a curse it gently placed the noble on the ground and unsheathed it’s nail. Though degraded over time, the nail still had an edge and the red bug clearly recognized the weapon, hesitating.

Hesitation. The victims of the Light never hesitated…

But now wasn’t the time for it to hesitate either, as other two bugs were about to attack. The Knight held its nail ready and let out another battle cry before swinging the nail in a great arc. The nail almost caught the Yellow bug, only for them to jump back, the nail missing by a hair breadth. Yellow’s eyes turned redder than the Light of the plague, and with footwork far too fancy to be that of a normal bug they dashed to the Knight’s front.

This bug was a warrior.

With a loud cry Yellow charged without weapons and the Knight readied its nail again.

Something kicked the inside of the Knight’s leg, sending it off balance and allowing Yellow to attack. With punches that felt like a Moss Charger, the Knight lurched back. This was the first flashes pain it had felt in a long time. In the corner of its vision, it saw the Black Bug grab at the noble.

If the Knight had any voice, it would’ve snarled. Instead it acted, slamming the base of the nail into Yellow, sending them flying back. Before Black could react, the Knight slashed through them. The nail passed through them like they were a simple Aspid. It wasn’t until the body dissolved into nothing did the Knight suspect something was wrong.

Black appeared next to Yellow, both of them shifting so they were back to back. It couldn’t be clearer that they were partners. The Knight watched them carefully, not forgetting about Red, who was still watching carefully with those eyes of theirs.

The Knight was outnumbered. Not only that, but its time spent sealed had taken its toll. Once, it could’ve held its own against any of the Five Knights. And now, it was already tiring. The Knight couldn’t handle a prolonged battle, not in the state it was currently in.

It had to end this in one attack.

The Knight tapped into its meager reserves of Soul. Only enough for one spell, but one spell was all that it needed.

“Yang, Blake, I think it’s about to do something!”

“Wha-?”

The Knight leapt high into the air, glaring down at its enemies. In that split second, it watched as Yellow and Black tracked its movements, and watched as Red dashed towards the noble. Then the second ended, and the Knight plummeted towards the ground, Void and Soul sparking at the edge of the nail. Red was right beside the noble when the nail slammed into the ground, releasing the spell.

“Whoa!”

Tendrils of Void and Soul exploded from the ground, all around them. In the pandemonium, the Knight grabbed the noble and made to dash away. Before it could though something landed on it and wrapped around its neck.

“Let go of her!”

It was Red. And without its other arm, all the Knight could do was thrash around. Yet no matter how it thrashed, Red didn’t let go. And the Knight couldn’t teleport, not with the noble-

The Knight tried to shake the bug off, trying to focus its soul enough for another spell. Red refused to budge, Yellow and Black were beginning to rally-

“Tally ho!”

The battle cry, so very much like Sir Ogrim’s, was from a portly bug charging at the Knight with astonishing speed. There was only a second to react. The Knight dropped the noble, tossed aside the Red Bug, whipped out it’s nail and braced itself.

Later, it would’ve remembered that the nail had suffered the toll of time as well. A once pure weapon, now brittle.

The portly bug’s weapon sliced right through the Knight’s nail, and still preparing for a counter the Knight could not react in time for the blade to slam into its body with a sick crunch.

For most beings, that would’ve been the end. Either dying on the spot or succumbing to pain and becoming an easy target. The Hollow Knight was not most beings. Ignoring the pain screaming across its whole being, the Knight took what remained of its nail and stabbed it into the portly bug’s face.

The moment the bug flinched back, ripping its weapon out of the Knight’s body, the Knight fell to the ground, black blood oozing from the wound. It’s body refused to obey.

Was this the end?

* * *

_No cost too great..._

* * *

Ruby watched as the strange Grimm disappeared in a flash of darkness. Despite how strange that was, she couldn’t help but breath a sigh of relief. She’d seen the wound Professor Port had inflicted. There was no way that it could’ve survived that. And crises out of the way-

“Weiss!”

Ruby rushed towards her partner, cradling the unconscious girl and scanning her for any wounds. There were no external wounds in sight, but her aura was practically gone and she might’ve been breathing but it was shallow breaths and-

“Professor!” Ruby called out.

Professor Port, who had been staring at the black blood dripping from his weapon, snapped his attention towards her.

“We need to get her to the infirmary!”

“Hmph, right you are Miss Rose! Come along now!”

‘ _Don’t worry Weiss, you’ll be okay! Team Leader’s promise.’_

* * *

_No cost to great..._

* * *

Weiss was trapped in the dark. It was a darkness that had never known light. A deep darkness, without sense, time or feeling. Weiss didn’t know how long she was stuck in it, but then there was light. A bright, pure white light-

_No cost too great._

In the shadows, shapes began to form.

_Born of God and Void._

The pure light seeped into the shadows, wrapping around their forms. Wrapped around her.

Blinding darkness was replaced by equally blinding light. When the light dimmed, she saw small masked figures, all around her. Like the Grimm, but not.

_You shall seal the blinding light that_ _plagues_ _their dreams._

All the masked figures were staring at her with blank black eyes, and she didn’t know why. Starting to feel self conscious, she resisted the urge to fidget-

_You are the Vessel._

She turned around and came face to face with the light. Their body, towering over them, was like a mirror. And she saw herself reflected, with shadowy body and stark white mask.

_You are the Hollow Knight._

She couldn’t stare at herself, nor at the light for long, so she turned away-

And in the sky, another light exploded into existence. This light was blinding too, but not pure white.

This light was red orange, and searing and harsh. And silly as it sounded, the light seemed enraged.

“ _ **I WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN!”**_

The harsh light grew stronger, causing the shadows to bubble around her. The white light was nowhere to be found, and the other shadows charged at the radiant light. She watched in horror as they were smote with beams of light. More and more shadows charged, but more and more died. Until only she was left. The light was massive now, hovering over her and fixing its baleful glare on her.

_“ **THE LIGHT WILL NOT BE CONSUMED!!!”**_

The light blazed, and Weiss couldn’t scream, though she tried. And then something stood in front of her. The creature from before, garbed in thick white armor. Armor that, with a shrug from the creature, shattered. The freed creature let loose a piercing silence, nail in hand. The enraged light let loose its own scream, raw and unearthly.

And Weiss found herself falling. The orange light soon became a distant speck. Weiss’s voice still refused to work, even as she free fell. It wasn’t until she abruptly hit something very soft that something finally escaped her throat.

It was ‘oof’.

Dazed and bewildered, Weiss laid still for a moment until humming caught her attention. Cautiously sitting up and brushing away a soft purple cushion, she searched for the humming.

It was a moth. If moths were the size of people. And despite how horrifying that should’ve been, there was no visceral disgust at the sight of the human sized bug. Though it was a big moth, it was also a humming moth, with a back so hunched and eyes so cloudy that the first thought that came into Weiss’s mind was – old. The fact that the moth looked like it was wrapped in a very fluffy coat didn’t help. It looked like a little old woman.

And how silly was that? Bugs didn’t grow old the same way people did. Then again, they weren’t supposed to be the same size as people…

Weiss was wrenched away from that trail of thought when the purple moth spoke.

“Ahhh,” the moth sighed with the voice of an old woman, “I see a most strange bug has come to visit my den.”

Weiss flinched back as the moth raised an appendage towards her.

“Ahhhh, forgive me. I do not mean to frighten.”

Some scraps of Weiss’s pride remained intact and Weiss sniffed as she shifted into Proper Lady posture.

“I am not frightened.”

“Meelemoo, perhaps not of me. But the Old Light frightens you, yes. I may not see much these days, but my hearing has not abandoned me.”

Weiss flushed and tried to calm her still beating heart. Old Light…

“W-Where am I?” Weiss finally asked. Summoning that creature, and then that furious light. It was all almost too much. Almost.

She and the moth were in a small room, if it could even be called that. Weiss doubted she could stand to full height. For all that it lacked in proper space, it was at least cozy. There were cushions everywhere, and a rug covered the hard floor. Cozy light filled the room in the form of lanterns that hung from the ceiling. Lanterns that, on closer inspection, had glowing butterfly like creatures inside of them.

“You are in my den,” said the moth cheerfully, and Weiss forced down a growl.

“And where might that be?” a thought popped into existence and Weiss swallowed, throat suddenly dry.

“Where is Beacon?”

“Ahhh, I do not know of any Beacon. We are in the Resting Grounds. Where old dreams still haunt the world.”

Weiss suppressed the shiver that threatened to travel down her spine. Fanciful words, that was all that sentence was, nothing more. And the feeling of multiple eyes on her was also nothing!

“And where in Vale might that be?” Weiss asked, impatient.

“Ahhh, you are not that dumb, little one,” Weiss wanted to get angry at that but the moth continued before she could, “You are not in your Beacon. Or rather, you are. I do not know what your body might be doing, but you are currently dreaming.”

“If so then this is the most bizarre dream I’ve ever had,” Weiss muttered. A dream, of course. It was all making sense. This was just some strangely lucid dream.

“Meleemoo, I see that you do not quite understand. Tell me, do you know what dreams are?”

“Of course I know. How could anyone not?” Weiss scoffed, feeling more comfortable. What a bizarre dream she was having…

“Ahhh, then you know that the world of dreams is the space between body and soul. Where what was, what is, what will be, and what never was all exist together.”

There was a moment of silence and Weiss cleared her throat.

“O-Of course. Obviously.”

“My, its so nice to meet someone who still knows the old ways.”

Weiss wasn’t sure if the moth was making fun of her or was genuinely happy. She decided not to comment on it to save face. There was still a good chance this entire thing was a bizarre dream caused by over exerting herself during her summoning training. But, on that off chance it wasn’t-

“How would I wake up then?” Weiss asked.

“Ahhhh...”

The moth’s voice up to this point had been cheerful. The sort of voice one Ruby Rose might have had when she’d grown old. But now, the moth’s voice had taken a sorrowful turn, and the hair on the back of Weiss’s neck rose.

“What?” Weiss asked, keeping her voice even.

“I’m afraid that the Dream has been closed off.”

“What? What does that mean?” Weiss immediately schooled herself. This was not how a Schnee composed themselves!

“The veil between the Dream and the waking realm has been closed off. Unless it is cleft in two, the realms will stay separate still,” the moth said softly.

The silence of the den, that had once been calming, was now stifling.

“Am I...trapped here?”

Weiss tried to tell herself that it was just a dream. But now she wasn’t as sure.

“Ahhh, do not be despondent, little one. You are not trapped here. There is a way to escape. But it comes with a cost.”

“What cost?” Weiss asked, voice hushed.

“If you were to cut through the veil, some dreams might invade the mortal realm. And not everything in the Dream is as nice as I am, hah hah!”

Weiss chewed her bottom lip – a bad habit she mostly had a handle on – as the moth began to hum again. She turned the moth’s warning in her head over and over again, before finally coming to a conclusion. She had to wake up. This was a dream, and the moth was just a figment of her imagination.

Weiss ignored the little voice inside her that whispered ‘what if’. Holding her head up high, she nodded.

“Please, tell me how to leave.”

“Ahhh,” the moth’s voice was neither cheerful nor sad. It just was.

“To cut through the veil, you must wield this.”

The moth held out her hands and Weiss stared at the glyph shining on top of sleek black skin. It wasn’t a Schnee glyph, but it was a glyph nonetheless, resembling a flower embedded into a wheel. It glowed with a strange pinkish light, and when Weiss gingerly reached out to take it it felt warm.

The moment she gabbed the glyph, power thrummed and the glyph blossomed into a thin blade. She recognized the shape immediately. How could she not recognize her own weapon?

“Ahhh, what a graceful shape the Dream Nail has taken,” the moth wondered. Weiss held the weightless copy of her blade in hand, power still thrumming under her hand.

“Now what do I do?” Weiss breathed.

“Wielder, you already know,” the moth hummed, “Raise the Dream Nail, and cut the veil between Dream and mortal realm clear!”

Bolstered by the moth’s words, Weiss raised the rapier. The power thrumming under her hands began to grow and pulse until Weiss’s hands were shaking and the rapier less resembled Myrtenaster and more resembled a plume of flame.

With a cry Weiss brought the weapon down. Glyphs exploded everywhere from the cut Weiss had created in thin air. Pink light flooded out of the cut, blinding her, Weiss shook and almost let go of the strange weapon.

And the moth spoke as Weiss faded away.

“For your sake, I hope we do not meet again Wielder. Yet I fear...”

And then nothing.

* * *

_No cost too great..._

* * *

Weiss Schnee woke up with a start. It took her a moment to shrug off the panic of the strange dream, and recognize that she was in the infirmary. A heart monitor beeped steadily, there was an IV in her arm, and all was pitch black.

All the better to see the pink light of the Dream Nail. Weiss stared at the weapon, not believing her eyes. The strange weapon dimmed before disappearing, and for a moment Weiss was content to leave it as a hallucination undoubtedly caused by stress.

Throat dry, Weiss lifted a hand and activated her semblance, thinking about the strange weapon. What had the moth called her? Wielder-?

The Dream Nail appeared in her hand once more, a pink ghost of Myrtenaster.

And Weiss grew queasy as she realized it hadn’t been a dream.

* * *

_No cost to great..._

* * *

Underneath the shattered moon, in the midnight hour, shadows stretched and writhed across Beacon.

In the halls, shrieks and buzzes echoed.

Underneath the various trophies of Peter Port’s class, a mighty presence stirred.

In front of the Statue, a lost being cried out into the night.

In the forest of Forever Fall, many eyes stared up at the broken moon.

All across Beacon, various Dreams escaped. And the students and professors of Beacon slept on. All except for one Weiss Schnee. And the Knight of Hallownest.

_No cost too great._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And yet another strange crossover, from yours truly!
> 
> There are many explanations I could offer as to why a crossover between the cheerful RWBY and the melancholic Hollow Knight. However, instead of listing them all off, I offer this:
> 
> Why not?
> 
> What happened to the Hollow Knight? What happened to Weiss Schnee? What will happen to both of them?
> 
> Tune in next time to find out!


	2. The Knight Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Weiss Schnee and the Hollow Knight meet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Neither RWBY nor Hollow Knight belong to me. They belong to Roosterteeth and Team Cherry respectively.

**Chapter 2: The Knight Part Two**

_Deepest silence in holy shell_

_Given nail and named a Knight…_

So busy was Weiss staring at the strange weapon the moth had given them that she didn’t notice the presence in the infirmary until she heard something bump against a bed.

Heart in her throat, Weiss looked up and saw the creature she had summoned.

She hadn’t had time enough for a good look before. Now though, it cut an even more intimidating stature in the middle of the night. It’s entire body blended in with the darkness, and it was only the odd beam of moonlight that struck the creature’s mask that allowed Weiss to see it.

The creature stomped towards her and Weiss pulled the blanket up, as if it would offer her some protection.

“S-Stay back!” she commanded, brandishing the Dream Nail.

Much to her surprise, the creature did stop. It stood at attention for a moment, black eyes never leaving her face.

Until it suddenly buckled. Weiss most certainly did not let out an ‘eep’. The creature, inhuman though it was, was clearly exhausted. It propped itself on a single arm, shaking silently.

_White mask like a Grimm, but none of the hatred. It didn’t kill me. It seems to be listening to me. It’s not a summon, not at all. But...I summoned it._

Weiss was broken out of thoughts as the creature, who had almost stood up straight again, fell back down with a loud clatter. It was practically heaving, in no shape to stand. And yet it began to try again.

“Stop it, you dunce!”

The words had left her mouth before she could stop herself, and Weiss had climbed out of the bed and stepped towards it. It was only the painful tug of the IV that had stopped her and she hissed. The creature, who had been staring at her silently, dragged itself towards her and reached an arm towards the IV.

It’s mask held no expression, but the intent was clear. Weiss batted the hand away and gave it a disapproving look. The creature shrank back, almost apologetically. And tried to stand up again!

“I said stop it!” Weiss hissed, grabbing the thing’s hand. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting. The hard glossy substance really shouldn’t have surprised her. The creature tried to pull its hand away, but Weiss wasn’t having it.

“You’re in no state to be moving around, whatever you are,” Weiss told it. The creature stared at it blankly, and Weiss could feel the faintest tremors under her hand. Weiss waited for a response, When she didn’t get one, she scowled.

“Well?”

Still no answer, and her irritation melted away as something occurred to her.

“Can you understand me?”

The creature nodded.

“Then why don’t you answer me?”

No response except for a bowed head, and Weiss thought for a moment.

“Can...Can you not speak?”

A nod. At least that cleared things up. Though it’d make getting answers difficult. She’d have to limit herself to yes or no questions. As she collected her thoughts, she stared at the silent creature. Now up close, she could see the hairline fracture that ran across the right side of the mask, right across an eye. Almost like a scar.

“Do you know that moth woman?” Weiss asked. The creature looked at her, tilting its head.

“Er,” Weiss fumbled a bit, realizing she couldn’t offer any more info then that. Then-

“She gave me this,” Weiss said, summoning the Dream Nail once more. The creature immediately focused on the glowing blade, staring at it intensely. Then, before Weiss could react, it removed its hand from her grasp to poke it.

The creature immediately was cloaked by the pink light of the Dream Nail, small glyphs flying from the light with a chime. And in that chime Weiss heard a whisper.

‘ _...Light...’_

The whisper was faint, and had this day not gone the way it had Weiss would’ve ignored it. Now? As the pink light faded from the creature, Weiss blinked and cleared her throat.

“Was that you?”

The creature stared at her and Weiss sighed. Well, there was a way to test that theory.

“Stay still,” she said, summoning the Dream Nail once more, “And tell me what your name is.”

She prodded the creature with the nail, and surrounded by light once more she heard the faint whisper.

‘ _...No name...’_

“No name?” the words came out of Weiss’s mouth before she could stop them, “What on Remnant do you mean, no name?” Everything had a name! Even things from hundreds of years ago!

But not things during that tumultuous period before and during the Great War, Weiss realized. With slight trepidation Weiss asked, “Tell me, do you know of the Great War, eighty years ago?”

‘ _...War…?’_

That was both a relief and a worry. A relief that this creature wasn’t some sort of monstrosity from that time period that she had _somehow_ summoned. But, now she realized that her question was a bit silly. Who _hadn’t_ heard of the Great War?

The creature in front of her apparently.

Weiss realized with a start that she was beginning to chew her lip again. The second time in a single day. Even in her first few days at Beacon she hadn’t done that. She was getting sloppy.

“Tell me,” Weiss hesitated before pressing on, “Do you know of any of the Kingdoms?”

Weiss wasn’t sure what answer she was wanting or expecting. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t-

‘... _Hallownest...’_

Hallownest. A name, finally, but not of any Kingdom she’d ever heard of. Filed away the name and continued her questioning.

“Does Vale mean anything to you? Mantle? Mistral? Vacou? Menagerie?”

The creature shook its head and Weiss took a deep breath.

So, the facts so far. She had summoned a creature that was not Grimm, knew nothing of the Great War or the Kingdoms, and offered only a strange name. Coupled with that, Weiss had escaped from some sort of dream world or something, where a moth had given her a weapon that defied all logic.

‘ _Wait a moment, the moth!’_

Weiss could get answers from her! Now that she had an idea of what questions she should’ve asked before! But she’d been so concerned with waking up...How did she find the moth again? Fall asleep? Or-?

Weiss slowly stood up, shooting the creature a look when it tried to follow suit.

“I’m going to try something,” she announced. The creature gave no reaction as Weiss lifted the Dream Nail up high. She thought of the moth and that strange world, and with a cry brought the weapon down.

For a moment nothing happened and Weiss felt her face flush. Before she could berate herself though, the strange glyphs appeared once more, filling Weiss’s vision until she was blind.

When they cleared, she was back in the den. But not alone.

“You? How did you-?”

The creature stopped looking at its surroundings and turned back towards her. In the soft light of the den, while no less otherworldly, the creature _was_ less intimidating.

“Ahhhh, you return, Wielder.”

It was the moth woman, looking not at all surprised by either Weiss or the creature. Weiss immediately sat down, knees underneath her, and began to speak.

“I have a lot of questions-” Weiss hesitated at what to call the moth.

“Hah! I am the Seer, dear Wielder.”

“Did you-?”

“Read your mind? No. You wear no mask, Wielder.”

Weiss took a breath, schooling her expression, and nodded.

“Seer. My name is Weiss Schnee,” the Seer gave no change of expression at the name. On autopilot, Weiss gestured to the creature, “And this is-” before realizing her blunder.

In the moment of silence that passed the Seer hummed.

“I know of your friend, Wielder. Though not many else remember him, many have heard of the Hollow Knight of Hallownest.”

The Hollow Knight? And that name again.

The Hollow Knight, at the sound of its name, visibly rose. It didn’t go very far, its horns scraping against the ceiling, but it stared at the Seer with an intensity that made Weiss uncomfortable.

“Ahhh, you are much bigger than the previous Wielder, oh Hollow Knight.”

“Previous Wielder?” Weiss blinked, sidetracked.

“Meelemoo, you are not the first Wielder of the Dream Nail, Miss Schnee. You are the first of your kind to wield it, however.”

“The first of my kind? Do you mean human?”

“Ahhh, very clever, Wielder. Humans? Is that the name of your kind? Despite how different you are, your dreams are much like the dreams of bugs.”

“...Does the name Hallownest mean anything to you?” Weiss asked carefully. She’d come back to get answers, and she was going to get them.

“Ah, the Kingdom of Hallownest! You currently stand within its borders. Within the borders of its dream.”

“Does...Does the name Remnant mean anything to you?”

“Ahhhh, I am afraid it does not.”

Well, Weiss though faintly, that explained something. Before she could muster up her next question, the Seer spoke.

“Wielder, the veil between Dream and your realm has been cut, and many lost dreams have invaded your realm. If not gathered, disaster awaits.”

“Wait, what?

“Come back to me, Wielder, once you’ve gathered enough essence for the Dream Nail to glow. Then you will find the answers to the questions you seek.”

“Wait-”

“Do not despair, Wielder. With the Hollow Knight by your side, you will gather those lost dreams in no time. For now, rest.”

The den was fading away and before Weiss knew it, she was blinking her eyes as the morning sun shone through the windows of the infirmary.

Silently cursing, Weiss sat up. And saw the Hollow Knight curled up at the end of her bed, staring resolutely out at the infirmary doors. Expressionless as it was, the Knight was clearly on guard.

Weiss was filled with mix feelings at the sight. Had the Hollow Knight been an actual summon, she’d have been elated. But to have a strange being from who knew where, with an autonomous will protecting her? It was...strange. Not bad, but certainly not good. Certainly not, Weiss realized with a sigh, when someone came in to check on her and saw the Hollow Knight staring back at them.

“How am I going to explain you?” Weiss muttered. The Knight gave her a glance before looking back towards the door.

While trying to come up with some sort of explanation, Weiss never though back to why she was in bed when she had entered the Dream from the floor. And even if the Hollow Knight could speak, it would never offer the info.

The Knight had a duty. Answers would either come or they wouldn’t. For now, it must protect the Lady Weiss.

* * *

_Given nail and named a Knight..._

* * *

Professor Ozpin had been expecting this. Or at least he wasn’t surprised by it. After Team RWBY’s debriefing and Peter’s report, the paranoia that dwelt in his soul told him not to count on this incident being just that.

And much like many times in the past, his hunch turned out to be true.

Though he wasn’t surprised, he still blinked upon entering the infirmary and seeing the strange creature standing guard over his student.

The moment he saw the creature Ozpin had to stop a gasp. The creature looking so much like one of the Creatures of Grimm that for an instant he had reached for his weapon. It was only the lack of hatred emanating from the creature that stopped him. That, and the nurses working around the creature. Yes, many of them were giving the creature fearful looks, and all of them looked grateful when he and Professor Goodwitch entered the infirmary. But the creature payed them no mind.

A Grimm would’ve mindlessly slaughtered everyone. This creature, whatever it was, wasn’t.

“Steady, Professor,” Ozpin whispered as Glynda tensed next to him. Then, taking a sip of his prized coffee, he stepped closer towards his student.

The creature immediately turned to stare at him, and Ozpin was struck by the unfathomable darkness of its eyes. An absence of anything.

“Would you stop that!”

Ozpin turned his gaze towards his student the same time the creature did. Weiss Schnee looked better than she had yesterday – having been exhausted of aura. Now she looked positively mollified.

“That is the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, and you will show him proper respect!” Weiss hissed at the creature.

Some days, Ozpin wondered if he deserved ‘proper respect’. Now though, he was slightly touched – and bemused. Trust that Miss Schnee would, even after sever aura exhaustion, give and demand proper politeness.

The creature stared at the angry girl for a moment before staring at Glynda.

“She is the Deputy Headmistress!”

The creature turned its gaze back towards the door and even as Ozpin chuckled, he was busy taking notes on the strange being.

Grimm certainly didn’t have manners. Or listened to commands. Not from Miss Schnee, at least…

“Miss Schnee. I am heartened to see you have recovered,” Ozpin said.

Weiss sat straight and stared at him nonconfrontationally. All very polite, and for the most part unnecessary. At least for him. Ozpin knew that Glynda had a soft spot for the Heiress due to the fact that in more cases than not, Weiss was the voice of reason for Team RWBY. And when it wasn’t Miss Schnee, it was Miss Xiao Long.

“Thank you, sir. I apologize for any disruption I might have caused.”

“The question, Miss Schnee, is exactly what happened yesterday.”

“Sir?”

Ozpin took a seat, noting that every time he moved the creature glanced in his direction.

“I’m afraid we don’t have a clear picture of what happened yesterday. Your teammates and Professor Port gave their version of events, but I was hoping you could elucidate us.”

Weiss hesitated, before giving her version of events. Having been practicing the Art of Summoning, the secret of the Schnee family, she had been about to call it a day after none of her attempts bore fruit when she had suddenly summoned the ‘Hollow Knight’.

The buglike creature then proceeded to protect her from what it had assumed were threats, and had reappeared by her side in the middle of the night.

So much explained, but so many more questions.

“First, Miss Schnee, I must ask that if you attempt training with your glyphs in the future not to over do it. Aura exhaustion is not a laughing matter,” Ozpin said seriously.

Weiss flushed but nodded, and Ozpin took another sip of coffee.

“Secondly, I admit I might be less familiar with your family glyphs than you are, but this creature is not exactly normal.”

“It isn’t, sir,” Weiss hesitated and Ozpin motioned for her to continue.

“We can only summon foes that we had defeated previously. I have never fought the Hollow Knight before, sir. And our summons do not have autonomy, sir.”

“They do not?” Ozpin asked. He had not had many opportunities to observe the act of Summoning. When he’d seen it in action, he’d often see the summons act very much like they would’ve have in ‘life’, and reacting to things that the summoner couldn't have known about.

“No, sir. They are semi-autonomous, but without orders they do not-” Weiss sighed, “Summons are just constructs of Aura. They do not have any personality, they do not act without orders.”

“And this creature has a personality?”

The creature turned towards him. And, slowly and deliberately, sized him up. Ozpin hid his surprise behind a sip of coffee, even as Weiss began to berate her summon. What he had assumed was emotionless was perhaps not as emotionless as he had hypothesized.

“You do not think this is a simple Grimm,” Ozpin interrupted.

“...No, sir,” Weiss admitted.

“Professor,” Glynda warned.

“There’s a simple way to test this, Professor Goodwitch. May I?”

Weiss nodded and hesitated, before turning towards the creature. The creature stood still, staring at Ozpin. It didn’t react even as he reached out towards it. No reaction even as he placed a hand on its sleek mask. No reaction as he sent a gentle pulse of aura towards it.

But the creature’s aura did react, pushing against him with a pulse of stark white light.

Ozpin heard Glynda take a sharp breath behind him and was aware that all the eye on the room were on him and the creature.

“Everyone knows that the Creatures of Grimm are soulless, without Aura,” Ozpin said to the room as he withdrew his hand. The creature continued staring at him.

“Tell me, Miss Schnee. Did you make up the name?” Ozpin asked carefully.

Miss Schnee shook her head.

“No, sir. I do not know what I summoned. I do not know how, sir. But, I know that it is called the Hollow Knight.”

“And how do you know this?” Glynda asked.

Weiss was silent for a moment, her expression giving away some internal conflict. Finally the girl sighed and answered.

“It came to me in my dreams.”

Ozpin could see why Miss Schnee wouldn’t want to have offered such an explanation. It was too strange, too mystical, to make sense or believe.

Ozpin knew magic better than most. And Miss Schnee’s explanation only furthered his worry.

“It seems clear to me what to do,” he announced. Glynda and Weiss turned towards him, awaiting his response.

“Once you have recovered, Miss Schnee, you will return to your classes. You will be given an extra day on any assignments you currently have. As for the Hollow Knight, I’m positive that Professor Oobleck will be positively gleeful at the prospect of research,” Ozpin said dryly. Glynda rolled her eyes and Weiss looked politely confused.

“Perhaps you should call your family, Miss Schnee? They might know something as well.”

“Of course, sir!”

“For now, take some rest. No doubt your team will be here to visit you later, and I will leave it to you to explain it to them,” Ozpin said kindly.

“Yes sir. Thank you,” Weiss said with a bow of her head. Ozpin’s response died in his throat when the Hollow Knight bowed its own head. He stared at the creature for a long time, even as it stared back.

“...Come, Glynda. We have paperwork to attend to,” and that was no lie, Ozpin thought with a rueful bitterness.

“Sir, what do you intend to do?” Glynda asked as they made their way back to the tower.

“I intent to wait, for now. The Hollow Knight is clearly not a threat,” hopefully.

Aware that Glynda was not pleased, he turned towards her and gave her a smile.

“I will of course keep a firm eye on it.”

“As will I,” Glynda said, and Ozpin knew that at the first sign of violence the Hollow Knight would have the ceiling dropped on it.

“For now, we can only wait and see,” Ozpin sighed, “I do not envy Miss Schnee to have to explain her summon.”

“Sir?”

“If the Hollow Knight could’ve been de-summoned, don’t you think Miss Schnee would’ve done so?”

Ozpin heard Glynda’s slow exhale and felt her glare on him, and he took a sip of coffee.

“The future will be interesting,” he mused. Now hopefully that old Mistrali curse, “May you live in interesting times,” turned out not to be true.

Somehow he wasn’t feeling very optimistic.

* * *

_Given nail and named a Knight..._

* * *

Weiss spent the rest of the morning agonizing over how she was going to explain everything to her team. And exactly _what_ she was going to explain to them. She still felt bad about leaving the finer details about yesterday out of her explanation to the headmaster. But...she hadn’t wanted to look like a fool. She barely knew anything about what happened yesterday. Telling the Headmaster that she’d somehow entered a dream world called Hallownest and met a human sized moth who gave her a strange aura weapon without being able to explain what Hallownest or the Dream Nail, or even who Seer was didn’t sit well with Weiss.

‘ _Come back to me, Wielder, once you’ve gathered enough essence for the Dream Nail to glow. Then you will find the answers to the questions you seek.’_

If that was how Seer wanted to play this, then fine. She’d gather this ‘essence’, get her answers, and _then_ she’d report to the Headmaster.

A solid plan formed, Weiss nodded her head and laid back for a moment. She sat up ramrod straight when she heard the telltale sound of Ruby Rose rushing towards the infirmary. It was a very distinctive sound.

“Weeeiiiissss!”

Ruby Rose burst into the infirmary, in her school uniform and with a worried expression on her face. Normally she’d chide her partner for being so dramatic, but considering what had happened yesterday, Weiss just sighed.

“Hello, Ru- gack!”

“You’re okay!”

“Ruby, lungs!”

“Hey there Weiss-cream~!”

Weiss sighed again, prevented from massaging her temples due to Ruby still hugging her. The expression on Yang’s face told Weiss that the blonde very much realized this. Much to Weiss’s surprise though, Yang’s bright grin turned into a more concerned look and she looked over Weiss, as if the nurses hadn’t already patched her up.

“You okay, Weiss?”

“I, uh, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure, Weiss?”

“Yes, Ruby, I’m sure-”

“Are you really sure?”

“Yes-”

“But are you?”

“Yes-!”

Weiss narrowed her eyes and turned towards Blake, who had down next to her with a small grin. Blake had the nerve to smile even more as Weiss glared at her, before laughing.

“It’s good to see you awake, Weiss,” Blake said warmly.

“It’s good to be awake, Blake. And for the last time, I’m fine Ruby.”

Ruby pouted but finally let go of her, sitting down next to her.

“Can’t blame us for being worried, what with what happened yesterday,” Yang said. Though she said it lightly, Weiss felt her face flush.

“My apologies. I didn’t mean to cause you all to worry.”

Her teammates glanced at each other, bemused, and Ruby flashed her a big smile.

“It’s okay! I know you didn’t mean to do...whatever you did.”

“What _did_ you do, Weiss?” Yang asked, “You didn’t show up for dinner and when we came to look for you there was this huge creepy Grimm.”

“Yeah! It was super tall and gangly, and like Yang said it was really creepy! It even used a sword and made the ground explode! I never heard of whatever Grimm it was, and guess what? Professor Port was confused too! Course, he killed it in like one blow, but still-”

“You were practicing Summoning, weren’t you?” Blake said, interrupting Ruby. Weiss looked at Blake, surprised.

“How do you know about Summoning?”

“Well,” Blake shrugged, “It’s a bit of an open secret, that the Schnee family had the only recorded case of a hereditary semblance, and that that semblance allows them to summon copies of Grimm. Your family doesn’t really hide it.”

Blake looked uncomfortable and Weiss could hazard a guess _why_ Blake knew more about the Schnee’s than your average person. She didn’t hold it against her. Maybe once upon a time – but once upon a time she’d never ever have associated with Blake. And she was incredibly glad that those times had passed. Blake was an incredible friend, that Weiss would trust with her life.

“My family never saw the need to keep it a secret. It isn’t like anyone can replicate our Semblance,” Weiss admitted.

“Wait, I thought your Semblance was your Glyphs?” Ruby asked.

“It is. But within the Schnee Semblance is a secret art. Summoning allows us to summon forth foes we defeated once before to do our bidding.”

“Wow. That’s kinda unfair,” Yang said.

“Says the human equivalent of the Third Law of Physics?”

Yang’s response was sticking out her tongue. Ruby had put a finger on her chin and looked thoughtful.

“Soooo...That thing from yesterday was one of your summons?”

If only it was that simple…

“Yes and no,” Weiss sighed, “I have not yet attained the Art of Summoning. Despite my mastery of glyphs...Summoning still eludes me. I had been spending yesterday trying to learn how to summon.”

“Wait, you were training your Semblance all day yesterday?” Yang asked.

“Yes, yes, I know that was foolish of me. I...just couldn’t stand the fact that I had not yet attained such a simple part of my Semblance.”

“Why didn’t you ask us for help?” Ruby asked quietly.

For a moment Weiss was caught flat footed. Why hadn’t she asked for help? Because this was something she had to do on her own.

Weiss knew this wouldn’t fly with most of her team. Maybe Blake would understand, but-

“I...Didn’t think about that. I was training my Semblance, and-”

“Semblance training is pretty individualistic, yeah,” Yang said. And Weiss knew that the blonde understood. Of all of Team RWBY, Yang was the best at proper, efficient training techniques. When Weiss had asked her how she knew so much, Yang had surprised her further saying not only was her father the General Trainer for Signal Academy, but Yang had taken several elective classes on the subject. She took her training seriously.

“Still, you should’ve asked one of us to tag in with you. Any bit of observation could’ve helped, and we could’ve used the training too,” Yang admonished.

“I know that now,” Weiss sighed.

“Soooo...” Ruby said, apparently content that Weiss wasn’t going to do anything silly in the future – which she wouldn’t! - “Well, you still summoned that thing yesterday, so-”

“I didn’t. Or rather, I did, but-” with a groan, Weiss gave the explanation about her Semblance she had given to the Headmaster.

“The Hollow Knight isn’t a normal summon,” she finished. Yang was looking thoughtful, Ruby looked slightly confused. And Blake was giving Weiss a strange look.

“Hollow Knight?”

“There’s no easy way to explain this...” Weiss began slowly. Wanting to get the moment over with, she gave a sharp clap.

“Come on out.”

It was almost worth it, seeing the looks of confusion on her team’s faces being replaced by surprise as the Hollow Knight dragged itself out from underneath the infirmary bed it had been hiding underneath. She would, in particular, remember the way Yang gave a short scream.

“Say hello to the Hollow Knight,” Weiss managed to say with a serene expression as her team stared at the Knight in blank shock.

* * *

_Given nail and named a Knight..._

* * *

It had been cramped underneath the sleeping nest, and the Knight had been glad to be able to stretch again. The noble, the Lady Weiss Schnee, had explained how she’d try to ease her team into it. Still the Knight tensed on seeing Red, Black, and Yellow. And after the three had gotten over their shock, the Knight could see how Black was tensing up, readying to attack.

The Knight wanted to tense up to, but the Lady Weiss had impressed upon it to remain peaceful. Red, Black, and Yellow were her ‘dear friends’ and that the Knight would be working together with them.

The Knight had never worked with past foes. It had never worked with anyone. As was, if the Lady Weiss did not want them harmed, then the Knight would not harm them.

Before Black could attack, Weiss held out a hand.

“Wait! It’s fine!”

“Fine?! Weiss-”

“I know what it looks like, but let me explain.”

The Knight stood still as the Lady Weiss spoke in hushed words to her friends. It took a long moment, and the distrust didn’t vanish from Yellow and Black’s eyes. But they did not attack it.

“Now that we’re all on the same page, allow me to do the introductions. Team RWBY, this is the Hollow Knight. Hollow Knight, this is Team RWBY. Ruby Rose-”

“Uh, hey?” Red waved, strange silver eyes giving the knight a curious look.

“-Blake Belladonna-”

Black nodded, amber eyes not leaving the Knight.

“-and Yang Xiao Long.”

“Sup,” Yellow said, in a too relaxed voice.

The Knight kept staring at them. The Lady Weiss had explained that they were students, not of knowledge like the students of the Teacher, but rather in the art of fighting. The Knight could see no sign of nails, or anything else that resembled weapons or armor. But, it would not underestimate them. They had held their own last time. Even if they were only students.

The Knight would simply have to regain it’s old strength.

The Knight began to walk away as the Lady Weiss’s team pulled her into a conversation. It knew better than to stick around for conversations it wasn’t privy to. So it stood a distance away and remained vigil.

If the Lady Weiss said that Team RWBY was not a threat, then they weren’t a threat. That didn’t mean that other threats could become present. And now the Knight had more than the Lady Weiss to protect. The Lady Weiss would be first priority, always, but the Knight would protect her team as well. In a way, they were now comrades-

“Uhhh.”

The Knight looked down as Red – Ruby Rose – sidled up to it. The strange bug – a human, apparently – was giving the Knight a curious look. This was nothing it wasn’t used to. On the rare ventures that the public of Hallownest had seen it, many similar looks had been leveled its way.

Still, there was no fear in her eyes. And she was not a threat. So the Knight stared at Ruby Rose for a moment, before turning back to the door. Only to have its attention taken by Ruby Rose poking its side. The poke had been gentle, non-hostile, so the Knight didn’t take action. It did turn back to Ruby Rose, who continued to stare at it with those silvery eyes.

What did she want?

“Soooo, you’re the Hollow Knight? I guess we were already introduced, but its nice to meet you. Weiss told me that you’re going to be staying with us for a while, so welcome to Team RWBY! Or, uh-”

Ruby Rose began to mutter various names that didn’t seem linked in any way shape or form, except for containing the letters R, W, B, Y, and H. She didn’t seem very happy with any of the words. The Hollow Knight watched this for a moment, not sure what it should do. It had never been prepared for this. As such, it decided to pretend that Ruby Rose wasn’t there (1).

Slowly, so as not to cause alarm, the Hollow Knight took out the remains of its nail. No matter how many times it stared at its old weapon, the fact remained that it was broken. Once upon a time, it would’ve been unbelievable – a nail made from the purest pail ore, able to break. But its time in the Black Egg temple had corroded the nail till it was nothing more than a blunt weapon. And yesterday’s attack from that portly warrior was the final straw.

It shouldn’t have mattered. The Knight would just have to find another nail, but -

this nail had been a constant for a long time. It...did not sit right with the Knight to throw it away.

So busy thinking, the Knight was startled when Ruby Rose leaned in to get a closer look at the nail.

“Oh, wow, is this your weapon? Can I see?”

The Knight felt uncomfortable with the prospect, but it could see no reason to deny Lady Weiss’s teammate. So it carefully handed the small human the remains of the Pure Nail. It didn’t know what Ruby Rose would do with the nail. She did not seem the sort to use a long nail like the Knight.

The Knight was about to watch the door once more when it spotted the way Ruby Rose held the remains of the nail. She held it like someone familiar with such weapons. Not only that, the gleam in her eyes reminded the Knight of the Nailsmith. The grip of a warrior but the insight of a smith. The Knight turned towards Ruby Rose as she looked over the remains of the weapon, muttering under her breath.

“-huh, the way this broke, its not like this is cheap metal whatever it is. It must have been really old, and-”

“How old is this weapon?” Ruby Rose turned to look up at the Knight. The Knight stared at her before shrugging. It had no idea how long it had been sealed away in the Black Egg Temple. Locked within eternal battle with the Light of the Plague, the Knight had lost all sense of time.

“Huh. Well, it’s a well made weapon. Or, at least it was...We could probably rebuild it.”

The Knight perked up at that and leaned in closer. Ruby Rose blinked.

“Would you like that?”

The Knight nodded. It could not properly defend without a weapon. Ruby Rose smiled at it before turning around.

“Hey, Weiss!”

“What?”

“Can I take Hollow Knight to the blacksmith?”

“ _Why?_ ”

“Cause we need to fix their weapon!” Ruby said, brandishing the broken nail. The Hollow Knight turned to the Lady Weiss, who seemed to be thinking on the idea. Finally with a sigh she waved Ruby Rose off.

“Fine. Just, please don’t cause trouble.”

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine!”

“Hey, I’ll go with you sis!” Yang Xiao Long said, cheerfully. An artificial cheer. The Knight could see why she wanted to join them. She did not yet trust the Knight.

She had no need to be so paranoid, but it was not an unseemly sight in a warrior. Ruby Rose seemed to be okay with it, and the Knight followed the two humans as they walked out of the infirmary.

The Knight would have to keep its faith in Blake Belladonna, until it had a nail once more.

* * *

_Given nail and named a Knight..._

* * *

“Rubes, what were you thinking!”

“What?”

Ruby looked honestly confused, and Yang glanced backwards to make sure that the Hollow-whatever wasn’t listening to them. Not that she’d be able to tell if tall, dark, and creepy _was_ listening, what with that expressionless mask…

“Are you scared-?”

“Dammit, no!” Yang hissed at her too canny little sister. Ruby stared at her for a moment before shrugging.

“Their weapon is broken, Yang.”

“So?”

“Well how’re they gonna fight without it?”

“I’d rather prefer it couldn’t fight at all...” Yang muttered.

Ruby stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned towards her sister, a frown on her face.

“Yang Xiao Long, you are not suggesting depriving a warrior of their weapon, are you?” Ruby said sharply.

“Hey, hey, shhh!” Yang put her hands out. Ruby continued giving her that look and Yang sighed.

“Look, maybe I am creeped out. But I’m more worried. What if it starts attacking people?”

“Do you trust Weiss?”

“Wha-? Of course, what kinda question is that?”

“I trust Weiss too. That’s why I trust that she wouldn’t summon anything dangerous,” Ruby said simply.

“Er, Rubes, I’m pretty sure Weiss didn’t mean to summon this guy.”

“But she did. And she didn’t get hurt. Heck, the Knight was protecting her from us! I trust them.”

“Sometimes you’re too trusting,” Yang sighed.

“Is that a bad thing?”

Yang turned towards the Knight, who was standing a respectful distance away, staring at a wall. Tried to see past the monster that had attacked them yesterday.

“I don’t think it is,” Yang finally said. At least, she wanted to believe that it wasn’t a bad thing, to be trusting.

Ruby hummed, but didn’t say anything else. Instead, she brandished the broken weapon the Knight had given her.

“Besides, look at this. Old and broken, maybe, but look at how intricate and well made it once was! This is a real classic, like Crocea Mors!”

It had surprised Yang when, after she had managed to convince everyone to show her their weapons, Ruby had spent a good while gushing about Jaune’s weapon. A weapon dork her little sister might’ve been, but she didn’t tend towards the classics. But apparently Crocea Mors had been enough of a classic to even impress Ruby. Something about it being like ‘80 years old and still sharp omigod!!’.

Yang took a closer look at the weapon. It was a sword, but not in any style the hand was familiar with. First of all, it didn’t have a hilt. Not a clear one anyway. The entire thing looked like it was made from one piece of metal – no obvious cross-guard, no leather straps around the hilt. If she hadn’t been at the business end of the thing yesterday, she would’ve called it an amateurs attempt to make a sword. A piece of junk.

Yang might not have been the weapon’s nerd Rubes was, but she knew enough. Such a strange sword might’ve been unwieldy to use for a human, but for whatever the Hollow Knight was?

“It’s weird looking,” she said at last.

“It looks more like a lance, yeah,” Ruby said offhandedly. And now that she had said it, Yang realized that it was sorta lance like. Like a jousting weapon, as impractical as jousting lances were(2).

“Do you really think that you can reforge it?”

“I can at least try,” Ruby said, “The hardest thing is going to be to decide what metal to make it out of. This sword isn’t made out of the traditional stuff, that’s for sure...”

* * *

_Given nail and named a Knight..._

* * *

“So!” Ruby Rose clapped her hands, “I managed to get some carbon steel!”

The Hollow Knight stared down at the metal on the bench. Ruby Rose waited, a smile on her face. And Yang Xiao Long waved at other humans in the smithy, trying to set them at ease most likely.

This wasn’t how the Knight imagined a nail smithy to look like, but it was clear that this was a nail smithy. And Ruby Rose knew her way around it, walking around with practiced ease.

“It cost a bit, but this should be enough to reforge your sword! It’s good metal too!”

The Knight lifted a chunk of the metal. It was metal. Heavy, sturdy. Metal.

The Knight couldn’t say much else about it.

“So now you’re ready to forge!”

The Knight stared at Ruby Rose as she cheered. A moment passed and Ruby Rose’s smile slipped.

“Uh, Rubes? Are you sure they know how to, uh, forge?” Yang Xiao Long asked. Ruby Rose looked at the yellow human strangely.

“What sort of question is that?”

“Sure, Hunters and Huntresses learn how to make their weapons, but militia-men don’t. Soldiers don’t either,” Yang Xiao Long turned towards the Knight, “Do you know how to make a sword?”

The Knight shook its head. To think that the humans in front of it were versed both in nail and nailsmithing…A strange combination, but not a foolish one.

“Huh,” Ruby Rose looked confused, before shaking her head, “Er...Would you like me to make your weapon?” she asked, hesitant.

The Knight nodded, and Ruby Rose rocked back.

“Weeeelllll...Okay. Won’t let you down,” Ruby Rose said, determined.

Ruby Rose, the smith, went to work, muttering under her breath, and the Hollow Knight took a seat. Yang Xiao Long gave the Knight a look.

“This is gonna take a while, you know that right?”

It was aware, yes.

“Arrreee you just gonna sit here, or-?”

The Knight did not move and Yang Xiao Long shrugged.

“Your wish I guess. Lucky that its a Sunday...Well, I’m gonna head out, kay?”

“Kay!”

The Knight, guessing that this was a question of confirmation, nodded.

And then, Yang Xiao Long having left and Ruby Rose working her art, the Knight waited.

* * *

_Given nail and named a Knight…_

* * *

The Knight opened its eyes, feeling the Soul of the Lady Weiss. A moment later the Lady Weiss walked into the smithy, followed by Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna.

“There you are,” the Lady Weiss said. The Knight stood up at attention, taking off the strange sign that had been placed around its head.

‘ _Not a Grimm! If you touch me you get to deal with Weiss Schnee!’_ with a small picture of a smiling mask.

Blake Belladonna’s eyes flickered towards the sign curiously. Yang Xiao Long, on the other hand-

“Hey, Rubes! Please tell me you’ve at least eaten! You better not have worked all day long on this!”

“I ate, I ate! Hang on a moment!”

“You should have seen her work on Crescent Rose. She almost passed out cause she forgot to eat. Dad really let her have it,” Yang Xiao Long mock-whispered to her teammates. Blake Belladonna shook her head with a smile and the Lady Weiss muttered, “Why am I not surprised?” with a note of fondness.

“You better not be telling stories about me!”

“Wouldn’t dare~!”

Ruby Rose walked out of the inner smithy, googles over her messy hair, wearing a thick apron and gloves, and holding a long object wrapped in a blanket.

The Knight perked up at the sight and Ruby Rose grinned.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Here!”

Ruby Rose held out the bundle and the Knight reached out to unwrap the blanket. And there was its nail. Different from before, no longer made of that pure pale ore. But the Knight could tell that its edge was keen enough to kill, strong enough to stand up to attack. It could not begrudge Ruby Rose for being unable to smith a Pure Nail, with how rare pale ore was.

The Knight stared at Ruby Rose – the Nailsmith Ruby Rose – who smiled and pushed the nail towards it.

“Go on, take i-”

The Knight knelt down to a single knee. Not for the first time it felt the loss of its other arm, but it grasped the nail with as much ceremony it could muster with its single arm, bowing its head. The moment it grasped the nail, it sent a pulse of Soul into the weapon. And there, within the new blade, it could feel the echoes of pale ore.

“O-Oh!”

“I can see why you call it the Hollow Knight,” Blake Belladonna muttered.

The Knight stood up, lifting the nail up high. Then twirling it into its preferred reverse grip, the Knight once more bowed to the Nailsmith Ruby.

“U-Uh, there’s no need to-” She was interrupted by Yang Xiao Long putting an arm around her shoulder.

“Relax, Ruby! They’re just thanking you. Accept it,” Yang Xiao Long said happily, looking at the Hollow Knight with less distrust than before.

“...Heh, I guess. I’m really proud with this. I tried keeping its design the same as much as I could, and whatever metal or alloy that old sword was made of was hard to work with, but-” Ruby motioned towards the nail the Knight held.

“Eh?” she said happily.

“I’m impressed,” the Lady Weiss said, admiring the nail, “You did a good job, Ruby.”

The Nailsmith Ruby giggled and Yang Xiao Long tousled her hair.

“Come on, we gotta get something to eat. And _you_ gotta work on that assignment Oobleck gave us.”

“Oh no, I completely forgot!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll help you out,” the Lady Weiss said, “After all, you were working on the Hollow Knight’s weapon the whole day. A Schnee does not forget her debts.”

Neither did the Hollow Knight.

“Oh, its not that big of a deal-”

“Do you want my help or not?”

“Oh, no, please-!”

“I’m just teasing you, Ruby. Come on.”

* * *

_Given nail and named a Knight..._

* * *

Team RWBY were walking back to their dorm when they ran into their first problem. Weiss knew that it’d eventually happen – she was astonished that someone hadn’t made a fuss in the smithy. Ruby must’ve been able to convince people more easily than Weiss thought possible.

The problem was that the Hollow Knight, while not a Grimm, looked so much like those soulless creatures, so inhuman that Weiss knew that someone in Beacon would take offense, sooner or later.

Though of all the people to run into, she thought sourly, did it have to be Cardin Winchester and Russel Thrush? Normal people, she could deal with. Brutish oafs like these?

At least her teammates shared her distaste. Blake’s expression twisted into a scowl at the sight of the duo and Yang’s grin turned a bit sharp. Ruby, who’d been walking alongside the Hollow Knight, frowned at the sight of them.

The only one who didn’t seem disturbed was the Hollow Knight itself, for obvious reasons. The Knight walked behind them steadily, staring at the sights of Beacon Academy, and more often than not, at the windows and what was outside.

“What the hell is that thing?” Cardin Winchester said loudly, as he walked their way. Any surprise in his voice was ruined by the smirk he had. Rumors traveled fast, and when Weiss had been discharged from the infirmary she had heard the hushed whispers about a strange Grimm in the weapons workshop.

“Looks like the sort of thing Port would scrounge up,” Russel Thrush replied.

Weiss had to give the mohawked jerk that. Professor Port did like his live Grimm as demonstrations.

Now the Hollow Knight’s attention was squarely on the C and R or team CRDL. Weiss took small pleasure at seeing Russel hesitate. Cardin on the other hand, puffed his chest and stared right back at the Knight.

“The hell are you looking at?” he said roughly. The Knight tilted it head before turning to Weiss.

“Ignore him,” Weiss said, preparing to step past the two. Cardin stepped in front of her, scowling.

“Who do you think you are, acting all high and mighty like that?” he asked.

“Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company?” Blake deadpanned, and Weiss bit back a giggle. Cardin growled, taking a step towards Blake. Weiss saw Yang begin to move in the corner of her eyes-

And then everything became silent as the Hollow Knight threw its head back and roared. A roar not of sound, but a silence that suffocated all sound, stole the breath away, and paralyzed the body. By the time sound returned, the Knight was looming over Cardin and Russel, a hand on the nail on its back.

“Come on man!” Russel said, dragging a pale Cardin away. The duo turned the corner, though not before Cardin yelped out, “This isn’t over!”

The moment the two were gone, Yang began to laugh and Weiss could feel a grin threaten to break. She nodded at the Hollow Knight.

“Thank you.”

“Y’know, maybe this won’t be that bad,” Yang said.

None of them noticed, in the orange twilight light, the reflection of several Vengeflies in the glass of the windows.

* * *

_Deepest silence in holy shell_

_Given nail and named a Knight…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) This same strategy had once been attempted by Weiss Schnee, and had failed spectacularly 
> 
> (2) Horse jousting never caught on on Remnant, as horses were skittish around the Creatures of Grimm and without the art of horseback lance fighting becoming popular, jousting remained an obscure activity for the idiots of small villages 
> 
> And the second chapter, done. More to come too.
> 
> I can't say too much about what's going on, since that's what the story for. But, for those of you curious as to why the Knight refers to Weiss as a noble lady, that will eventually become relevant. 
> 
> It's a challenge, writing for an 'emotionless' character who cannot talk. And any chance of the Knight learning sign language is turned difficult by the loss of their arm. 
> 
> So now Team RWBY has a new teammate! Ozpin is tired, Glynda is suspicious, no one has any idea of the full magnitude of what has happened -
> 
> And that will soon change.
> 
> Tune in next time to find out!


	3. The Mighty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I protect the weak, wherever they may be."  
> In which Weiss and Blake learn that Hallownest has more than one Knight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and Hollow Knight do not belong to me. They belong to RoosterTeeth and Team Cherry respectively.

**Chapter 3: The Mighty**

_The strength to protect others..._

Blake Belladonna woke up in the middle of the night and almost screamed. Almost being the key word.

After a _very_ short discussion about the pros and cons of leaving the Hollow Knight outside their dorm, they had gone about their business. Weiss and Ruby working on homework, Yang listening to some music, Blake curling up with a book -

And the Hollow Knight settling up against the wall next to the door and waiting.

Blake recognized what it was doing. Next to the door, able to not only see whoever entered the door but with clear sight of the window too – a perfectly good spot to keep watch.

She still wasn’t sure what to feel about the Hollow Knight. Weiss had convinced them that the Knight wasn’t malevolent, and Blake believed her. Malevolent or not though, it was eerie. And the sight of it keeping vigil made her hair stand on end.

So imagine her heart when, waking up, she saw it continue to stare out at the room, at full attention.

Sometimes, Blake thought as she clutched her chest and tried to calm her racing heart, it sucked having night vision.

Any hopes that the Knight hadn’t noticed her were dashed when its head silently turned towards her. Once again, those bottomless dark eyes pierced through her, as if the Knight knew what she was thinking. Which was ridiculous…

Sighing, realizing she wouldn’t go to sleep anytime soon, Blake slipped out of bed and knelt down by her bookshelf. Most of the books here she’d already read, and that was exactly what she was looking for. Something familiar, like an old friend, to lull her back to sleep. Novel chosen, she began to slip back under the covers when she spotted the Hollow Knight.

The Knight was no longer looking at her. Instead, it had gone back to what it was doing before. Sitting completely still, at ready. Against her better judgment, Blake made her way towards the Knight, silent so as to not wake her teammates.

“Why are you awake?” she whispered.

The Knight turned towards her, silent as ever.

Ignoring goosebumps, Blake Belladonna continued.

“It’s not like anything is going to attack us. Beacon is...safe.”

And safe places were very far and few.

The Knight stared at her and Blake, certain her words didn’t do anything, began to turn away. That’s when the Knight grabbed her arm. Gentle, and that was the only reason she didn’t flip out. She still leveled a glare at the Knight, and felt her ears stand up.

“What-!?”

The Knight motioned for her to place her head against the door. Still glaring, Blake did so. For a moment she heard nothing. And then-

It was the barest of whispers, but for a moment she heard shrieks, hisses, clicks, and buzzes.

Hair standing on end, Blake backed away.

“What was that?” she turned towards the Knight. To her displeasure, the Knight shrugged. The two of them stood there for a moment, and Blake hugged herself. Vale wasn’t cold, not for most people, but it was colder than she preferred.

The chill traveling up her spine was for completely different reasons.

The Knight tilted its head, and to Blake’s surprise unsheathed its sword. Not in a threatening way – at least, not threatening her.

“You’re protecting us from whatever that is?” Blake murmured.

The Knight did not respond. But it sat at attention, and that was a response enough. Feeling slightly reassured, Blake made her way back to her bed and began to turn pages.

It took a long time for her to go back to sleep.

* * *

_The strength to protect others..._

* * *

Like Weiss had predicted, getting adjusted to the Hollow Knight would be...difficult. Waking up to see the Knight still standing by the door, as if it hadn’t moved at all in the night, was an interesting experience. Still, the Knight did not disturb them as they got ready for the day, and when they were about to leave their dorm the Knight had even held the door for them.

‘ _Finally, a gentleman’_

Or whatever the Hollow Knight was. Gentle-bug?

Their first trial approached them not even a moment after they opened the door, in the form of Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos.

She’d never say it out loud, but some days Weiss still lamented the fact that the amazing Pyrrha Nikos was paired up with Jaune Arc. It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with Arc, per say. He was kind enough, polite, and nice.

He was also Jaune Arc. And aside from that, he just. Couldn’t. Take. A. Hint!

“Hey, Weiss!” Jaune said the moment he saw her, a dopey smile on his face. She rolled her eyes and was prepared to give Arc her most chillingly polite smile when a shadow fell over her and Arc’s smile vanished.

The Hollow Knight stared at the paling Jaune Arc, stared at the tensed Pyrrha Nikos, and finally turned towards her. Keeping the smile from breaking across her face, Weiss cleared her throat.

“Hollow Knight, this is Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc,” she said, motioning towards the two. Nikos, always quick on the draw, raised a hand and waved.

“H-Hello?”

“Hey guys!”

Ruby popped up next to the Hollow Knight, her sense of personal space nonexistent as always. The Knight didn’t seem to mind, though it did seem confused.

“Uh, Ruby?” Jaune began, voice wobbling a bit as he pointed at the Knight.

“Oh, yeah! This is the Hollow Knight! They’re the newest member of Team RWBY! Weiss summoned them,” Ruby said happily.

It was always nice to see Ruby Rose happen to other people, Weiss reflected as she watched Pyrrha and Jaune’s faces as they tried to make sense of what info they had been given. Pyrrha, of course, caught on first.

“And they are…?” Pyrrha began, turning to Weiss.

“Perfectly safe and just here to aid us,” Weiss responded.

Not completely true, Weiss thought. She didn’t know what the Knight wanted. They seemed content in going along with Team RWBY but she’d have to ask it- them.

“I know they look like a Grimm, but they aren’t!” Ruby told Jaune with a grin.

“Are we gonna just chatter like mockingbirds here, or are we going to get breakfast?” Yang asked loudly, walking up behind Weiss. Blake followed her partner like a silent shadow, looking slightly tired.

“Breakfast!” Ruby declared, before rushing away.

“Uh, yeah, sure, breakfast,” was Jaune Arc’s response.

As they made their way towards the mess hall, Weiss was saved from having to deal with Arc by Pyrrha Nikos sidling up to her.

“Did you really summon that?” Pyrrha asked.

Weiss didn’t ask her how she knew about summoning. Blake had proved that the ‘secret art of the Schnee family’ wasn’t that much of a secret.

“I did. Not on purpose, but I can’t say I’m not pleased with the result.”

“And its not a Grimm?” Pyrrah whispered.

“They aren’t. They aren’t a normal summon either,” which would cause problems.

The Hollow Knight did not desummon. It was a good thing that Weiss did not have to expend aura to keep the Knight active, but it would make classes awkward. It would make everything awkward.

Weiss had considered telling the Hollow Knight to not follow them into the mess hall and classes. But where would they go? And, more importantly, what might happen to them if no one was around to watch them?

Weiss believed the Hollow Knight was capable. But against a full team of Hunters and Huntresses in training? She didn’t want to chance that.

So, she’d just have to stand up straight and take what was inevitable with grace and poise.

Despite what she told herself, Weiss almost walked right back out of the mess hall. The moment they entered the entire hall hushed. It was uncanny, and even the Knight shifted next to her.

The only reason she didn’t loose nerve right there was Blake.

“Grab me an apple or something, Yang,” Blake said as she grabbed the Hollow Knight’s arm. The Knight turned to Weiss, but she saw what Blake was doing and nodded.

“Are you sure Blake?” Yang asked.

“I’m sure,” Blake said, before disappearing out of the hall with the Knight in tow.

Sound returned to the mess hall slowly. It took effort not to follow Blake, with all the stares on her. But Weiss Schnee had just as much of a right to food as anyone else, and she would not buckle against the judgment of the masses.

Still, she felt infinitely more comfortable when she sat next to Ruby, among friends. She just hopped that Blake and the Hollow Knight weren’t dealing with anything unpleasant.

* * *

_The strength to protect others..._

* * *

Blake could feel the Hollow Knight’s stare on her. They had left the mess hall and walked down the hall, though still in sight. Yang would be scarfing down her food and coming out with Blake’s breakfast at any moment.

When she turned, the Knight was looking at her with a tilted head. No expression, but she could guess well enough what they were trying to ‘say’.

“I know what’s its like to be at the center of attention, and not for good reasons,” Blake said after a moment, “It’s no fun…”

The Knight stared at her for a moment, before looking away. Blake liked to believe that the Knight was thankful. At the very least, they didn’t move away.

The two of them stood there like that, getting the occasional odd look but nothing worse than that. It was nice, to just be able to be quiet. The only other person who truly understood that was Ren. He’d probably like the Hollow Knight, once he got past the creepiness.

Blake glanced at the Knight. In the light of day, they weren’t as intimidating. Tall, inhuman...And staring out at the courtyard calmly. Not completely relaxed, but not tensed either, not like last night. The dark cloak it wore looked dusty and tattered in the light, and hung strangely on their left side-

“Wait, do you not have-?” Blake asked, eyes widening. The Knight turned towards her and saw where she was staring. Slowly, the Knight lifted aside the cloak. Blake gulped.

Whatever had taken the Knight’s arm hadn’t done it kindly. Scarred black shell covered the entire shoulder in an ugly criss-cross. It looked painful.

“Are you okay?” Blake breathed.

The Knight stared at her, before letting the cloak fall back.

Well, she was just going to have to bring this up with Weiss then…

Before she could continue with that thought, the Hollow Knight tugged at her sleeve. Surprised, Blake turned towards them and then turned towards whatever they were pointing at-

Squinting, Blake turned from the Sun to the Hollow Knight and back again. The Knight tilted their head and pointed at the Sun once more.

“Do...Have you never seen the Sun before?” Blake asked carefully.

The Knight shook their head and Blake rocked back a little. Well, this was certainly a surprise. How the hell did you explain something like the Sun?

Yang had returned just as Blake finished her clumsy explanation. She only hoped she hadn’t done a horrible job. Yang wasn’t alone though. Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie followed her, or in Nora’s case, skipped past her and towards the Hollow Knight.

“Oh, wow! You weren’t lying! Ren, look, its a friendly Grimm!”

Ren smiled at his friends antics, but his expression shuttered once more when he looked at the Hollow Knight. Blake felt a pang of sympathy towards her fellow introvert. She didn’t know much about Ren’s past, but she did know that he was an orphan. And the Grimm took everything.

“Not a Grimm,” Blake corrected, searching for the correct word. Weiss had called the Knight a bug…

“More like a beetle,” she said at last. Nora blinked, and Ren looked surprised. Before turning a considering glance at the Knight.

“...I can see the resemblance,” he said at last. Yang tossed Blake an apple and a granola bar before standing next to Ren and squinting.

“Hey, I can see it too.”

“Well I can’t,” Nora complained, before twirling around and beaming at the Knight. Blake watched in sympathy as the Knight stared at the bubbly ginger. Nora took a while to get used to.

“Hello there! I am Nora Valkyrie, proud member of Team JNPR! And this-” Nora reached out and yanked Ren towards her, “-is my partner Ren! He reminds me of you!”

“Uh-” Ren began, stumbling as Nora pushed him towards the Knight. Ren sighed as Nora formed a rectangle with her fingers and squinted, sticking her tongue out.

“Nora...”

“Shhh! I wish I had a camera! You guys can make a club!” Nora said happily. It could’ve been an insult, Blake thought, but because it was Nora it wasn’t. For all that Nora loved talking, she respected silence. When Blake had once asked her for space, she hadn’t been expecting the ginger girl to back off and apologize. Of all of them, aside from Ren Nora was a reliable source of peace and quiet...Provided you asked first.

Yang, on the other hand…

“All we gotta do is dress Ren up in some black,” Blake’s partner grinned, “Maybe some purple eyeshadow.”

“Nah, Blake already super rocks purple. Green is more Renny’s color,” Nora said, matter of factly.

“Is it?” Ren asked Blake. She shrugged, trying to imagine the quiet boy with green eyeshadow. She’d been imagining magenta, really, to match with his eyes.

“Ooh, ooh! Orange would look great on you!” Nora said, pointing at the Knight.

Blake hadn’t been expecting the Knight to sharply shake its head. Yang clearly hadn’t been expecting it either, judging by her expression. Nora didn’t seem to notice though, as she hummed.

“Really? Weeeelllll...Black then. Normally I wouldn’t go for it, but I think it’d look really nice on your face!”

Nora grinned and the Knight stared at her for a moment before turning to Blake.

Blake bit back a grin, and felt a stab of companionship with the strange bug that Weiss had summoned.

* * *

_The strength to protect others..._

* * *

“Hmmph, I can see that we are distracted today!” Professor Port said to the class at large. The portly professor wasn't mad though. Quite the contrary, he seemed bemused.

“Normally, I would not tolerate this from Hunters and Huntresses in-training, but today I make an exception, seeing as we have a new face in class today!”

It was a testament to the Professor’s general amiability that he had allowed the Hollow Knight into the class in the first place. Dry though he might be, Weiss thought, the Professor was a good teacher. You just had to see past the long winded exposition and bombastic childhood stories.

So the Knight was sitting next to Team RWBY, doing their best to sit in a chair that had been designed for shorter, fleshy people. And they had behaved admirably during the class, paying attention to the Professor the entire time(1) and not making a sound.

Still, Weiss could feel the many eyes on Team RWBY, and once or twice she was tempted to look back and yell at her fellow peers. As it was, she just tried her best to take notes.

Professor Port began to pace around the front of the class.

“I have an idea, students,” he began dramatically.

“Oh, this’ll be good,” Yang muttered.

“A true Hunter does not let themselves get distracted, but I know that irresistible lure of curiosity! I know it very well! Why when I was a young boy...”

The class held their breath, dreading the incoming Port Childhood Story.

“...But I digress,” the Professor said, “So, as I said, an idea! A live Grimm demonstration, by our newest edition! What do you say, Sir Knight?” Port asked gallantly.

The Hollow Knight sat up a bit straighter, before turning to Weiss. Feeling even more eyes on her, she gave the barest of nods and hoped she wasn’t blushing.

The Knight immediately stood up to full height and began their way down to where the Professor was dragging a snarling cage from under the trapdoor he kept beneath his desk.

“You can do it!” Ruby cheered.

“Show that Grimm what your made of!” Yang yelled, giving the Knight a thumbs up.

To Weiss’s right, Blake was waving a small yellow flag with the words RWBY + H emblazoned on it. The + H had clearly been drawn in permanent marker.

“Where do you keep getting those?” Weiss asked, exasperated.

Blake just smiled coyly and continued to wave the flag.

‘ _Anyone who thinks that Belladonna is some stoic book nerd can eat crow,_ ’ Weiss thought to herself, not nearly as annoyed as she probably should be.

“Oho! What cheer! Now, Sir Knight, I wonder – Have you ever fought a Grimm before?”

The Knight, standing at attention, shook their head.

“Hmm! Well then, today will be a learning experience! Let us see how you fare against those soulless monsters, the enemies of civilization itself!”

The Professor certainly had a flair for the dramatic. And with a quick chop from his axe, the chains holding the cage closed were shattered and the Beowolf leapt out, snarling.

All life held fear and loathing for the Grimm. Soulless monsters that came from who knew where, and returned to ash. Mindless, except for their hatred of all things human. The Grimm would stop at nothing until humans and faunus(2) were extinct. Even the sight of a Beowolf, one of the weakest of Grimm, made Weiss’s hair stand on end. It wasn’t fear, not the conscious kind. It was simply like that instinctual fear that all mice had for cats(3).

Beowolves were oddly proportioned creatures, manlike and wolflike but not in the correct proportions. Always hunched back, their deceptively wobbly walk could turn into a lightning fast four legged dash. The arms that almost trailed to the ground ended in sharp bony claws. Like all Grimm, its body was pitch black, with plates and spikes of bony white covering portions of it. And on its face mask, blazing red markings surrounding deep yellow eyes that glowed red.

The moment the Beowolf was in the open, it threw its head back with a howl.

The Hollow Knight met it with the roar of challenge that Weiss had heard before. Only this one was much, much louder. The roar physically pushed Weiss down. If anyone in the room was saying anything, Weiss couldn’t hear it with the heavy silence of the roar. The bewolf looked visibly surprised. Before snarling once more charging at the Knight.

Despite knowing that the Knight would hold their own – after all they had fought of most of Team RWBY before – Weiss still held her breath. What would the Knight do?

What the Knight did was charge at the beowolf, sword held like a lance. The beowolf managed to avoid the first charge, only to be slammed to the side by a slash from the Knight. The beowolf growled, lunging for the Knight.

The Knight disappeared in a flash of darkness.

“What in the-?” Yang began.

Not a second later the Knight reappeared, above the beowolf, slamming the sword into the grimm’s body. The sword sank straight through the beast’s neck, and into the floor. The force of the blow crushed the monster, and Weiss saw the light in the beowolf’s eyes stutter as it clawed weakly at the floor.

Before fading away.

In the following silence, the Knight wrenched the sword out of the floor and beowolf, staring at the dissolving body before stepping away. They looked no worse for the wear, and stood at attention, sword pointing down at the ground.

The room’s silence was broken by Professor Port’s clapping, and shortly after that Ruby Rose’s cheers.

“Well done, Sir Knight! A most breathtaking fight!”

“Woo!”

“However, in the future I caution against such attacks,” Professor Port held up a finger, “For most Grimm have protective plating across their backs, especially the older kinds.”

To Weiss’s relief, the Knight did not take the Professor’s words as insult. Instead they titled their head before nodding. Smiling, Weiss began to clap with the rest of her team-

The world shifted. One moment she was in the classroom. The next moment she was in a dark cave, grey stone all around her. In the distance she could hear buzzes and shrieks. And in front of her was the sleeping figure of a massive armored creature. It had to be asleep, since that noise couldn’t have been anything but snoring. The air was filled with pink glyphs and Weiss felt warm and cold at the same time-

And then she was back in Professor Port’s classroom with a gasp. Blake’s hand was on her shoulder and the raven-haired girl was giving her a concerned look.

“Weiss, are you okay?”

Weiss took a few breaths, noticing that no one else had noticed her…whatever that was. Yang and Ruby were still busy cheering, and the Professor was still giving the Knight pointers. No one else had noticed, except for the Hollow Knight. Who began making their way towards her.

Immediately she waved them off, and shrugged Blake’s hand off.

“I’m fine, Blake. Don’t worry,” she smiled, trying to hide her own worry.

Judging by the look on Blake’s face, she didn’t believe her. But she didn’t press, and Weiss hid her guilty relief.

What on Remnant had that been?

* * *

_The strength to protect others..._

* * *

“Are you sure, Weiss?” Ruby asked once more.

Blake watched as Weiss nodded. The white haired girl was trying to convince them that she and the Hollow Knight would skip lunch in the mess hall and go somewhere else. The only reason the rest of the team was even considering this, Yang especially, was because Weiss had already grabbed something that could’ve qualified for lunch.

“I’m sure, Ruby. It’s probably best to avoid incredibly public spaces for a few days, till the novelty of our situation leaves the mind of the student body,” Weiss said.

It was a good enough reason, Blake thought. There were plenty of eyes on them, and more than enough hushed gossip. And they thought they were being sneaky, but as they furtively spoke Blake heard snatches and pieces of conversation with her hidden faunus ears.

And yet…

After Ruby and Yang had finally let Weiss and the Knight go, just as they were about to grab lunch Blake grabbed Yang’s shoulder.

“Be right back,” she told her partner.

“Blake?”

“Just remembered something,” Blake said swiftly and was gone before Yang could protest. She felt bad about leaving her partner behind, but…

Last night wouldn’t leave her memory. And today, in class, for a moment Weiss had froze. And she hadn’t been the one fighting.

Some would call Blake paranoid. She’d argue that it wasn’t paranoia when she was right. In the end, Blake had a suspicion of the world and truth and people that one could only get after having seen the ugly side of the world for a long, long time. She didn’t enjoy being the cynic, but to her it seemed more often than not that the cynic was right.

She’d been trying to get better, after meeting Ruby and Yang, Weiss and the rest of their friends. But some old habits died hard.

Sometimes she hated being right. And sometimes, she didn’t know _what_ to do about being right.

Weiss and the Hollow Knight where in Professor Port’s classroom, like she had expected. What she hadn’t expected was Weiss holding a plume of pink flame above her head, surrounded by an other worldly light.

The moment Blake stepped into the room the Knight snapped towards her with an uncomfortable intensity. Before anything else could happen, Weiss brought the plume of flame down with a kiai. The plume cut through the air. And from that cut, bright pink light flew out with a storm of glyphs.

“Weiss?!”

“Blake!?”

The world whited out and when her vision returned, Blake found herself being cradled by Weiss.

“-ake! Blake! Answer me, Blake!”

“Weiss…?” Blake coughed out, trying to sit up. Her hand brushed up against cool rough stone, and Blake’s eyes snapped open.

Weiss was looking down at her, expression halfway between worried and angry. And the Hollow Knight stood above both of them, sword ready. Above the Knight, the craggy grey walls of the cave rose up and up until she could barely see the ceiling.

“Where the hell are we?” Blake breathed.

“Blake-” Weiss began, still looking concerned. Blake shot her a flat look and Weiss sighed.

“Fine. It’s a long story.”

It was a long story. A strange story too, that Weiss gave while also lecturing Blake for the downright foolish thing she had done what if she had been hurt!-

Weiss’s story was interrupted by the faraway hiss and shriek. No longer whispers, and not _comfortably_ faraway either.

“So, let me get this straight...” Blake began, “After summoning the Hollow Knight, you were trapped in a dream world called Hallownest and only escaped with the help of an old moth lady, but in doing so you might’ve unleashed some creatures upon Beacon. But you’re not sure because the moth lady wont tell you anything unless you gather some, some ‘essence’! Did I get all of that?”

At least Weiss didn’t seem happy about the whole thing.

“That about sums it up, yes,” Weiss said, dejected.

The both of them were silent for a moment. Some of Blake’s anger with her teammate faded on seeing how worried Weiss looked. With a breath, Blake stood up and helped Weiss to her feet.

“Hey, don’t worry about it.”

“You’re not mad-?” Weiss began.

“It’s not like you meant for this to happen. We’ll figure this out – as a team,” Blake said firmly. Weiss smiled softly.

“Thank you, Blake.”

“So, this is Hallownest?” Blake asked, looking around the dark cave.

“It seems to be. Are we right?” Weiss asked the Hollow Knight. The Knight, still standing tensed, gave a curt nod.

“I can see why they didn’t know what the Sun was,” Blake muttered.

“We best be careful,” Weiss said, taking out Myrtenaster, “We have no idea what could be lurking here. The Seer seemed to reference to hostiles.”

Her teammates tone was all business, and Blake nodded, reaching for Gambol Shroud -

which, she remembered with a sinking feeling, she had placed in her locker.

“Blake?” Weiss asked carefully as her teammate began to curse.

“When we get out of this, I’m never leaving my weapon behind,” Blake grumbled. She felt a presence next to her and turned to see the Hollow Knight stand next to her. Weiss slid up to her other side.

“Don’t worry.”

“Worry? I’m the weakest link in the team,” Blake snorted.

“Not with your hearing and eyesight, you’re not.”

Blake blinked at Weiss, who was squinting into the dark.

“I’m not a faunus, remember? Maybe the Hollow Knight can see in the dark, and you definitely can, but I can’t. I’m going to be relying on both of you.”

A few months ago, Blake would’ve sooner spit in a Schnee’s face, let alone hear anything they had to say about the faunus. And here they were now, Weiss accepting the abilities of the faunus more easily than many others.

With a determined expression, Blake undid the bow she kept on top of her head, and let her second set of ears free.

Now the sounds of the cave were louder, richer. She could hear buzzing, shrieking, faraway hisses. The skittering of claws and the echoes of cries. There was not a human sound in the mix. But there weren’t any grimm sounds either. The Hollow Knight had never seen the Creatures of Grimm before, so that was one thing they wouldn’t have to deal with-

“Somethings coming!” Blake hissed, hearing the sound of many feet becoming louder. Weiss and the Hollow Knight tensed, bringing their weapons up. A moment later, from the darkness, something skittered towards them.

Something was the size of a puppy and looked like a fuzzy oval, with a grey segmented underbelly and many tiny legs. The thing looked up at them with big black eyes, and Blake should’ve been creeped out by a bug the size of a puppy but it was strangely cute -

Silently, the bug began to make a u-turn and crawled back into the darkness.

“...Well, that was a thing,” Blake said at last, “Scary bugs, huh?”

“It was sorta cute,” Weiss muttered, a hand on her cheek.

Blake felt a smile tug at her lips – who knew that the cold Schnee heiress had a weakness for cute things? – when a loud shriek echoed across the room. Several similar shrieks followed, making Blake’s hair stand on end.

“We’re going towards that, aren’t we?” she sighed.

“Onward!” Weiss commanded, and the Hollow Knight rushed forward with such speed that they had to jog after them.

What they found was not more cute bugs.

Several flying bugs the size of beowolves, that resembled flying beetles with normal black eyes and jaws that brought to mind bear traps whizzed around, shrieking at the top of their lungs. And they were all swarming around a massive creature in a suit of armor.

The armored being easily stood as tall of the Hollow Knight, but where the Knight was thin the being was round. It looked like an upright beetle, with stubby legs and beefy arms, their helm shaped back with two horns and four eye holes. One of the shrieking flies charged at the armored being and was smashed into paste by the large mace it wielded. Blake flinched at the goopy sound, and she heard Weiss gag next to her.

The grimm were terrifying, but they didn’t bleed like living things.

Whoever this armored knight was, they were good. Like, Nora Valkyrie with her war hammer good. It kept the flies far back with quick and decisive swings of its mace, all the while moving inexorably forward. There was a certain grim cheer to its movements as it smashed fly after fly. A skill that reminded Blake of Professor Port, who while long winded was a true Hunter.

So entranced she was by the simple elegance of the knight’s strength that she almost missed the fly charging straight at them. She didn’t miss the shrieking though, and as she whirled around the fly was only moment away.

The Knight teleported underneath the fly and swung upwards, cutting the fly from head to abdomen. The fly gave a gurgled shriek as it fell to the ground and skidded towards them. Blake couldn’t help but let out a little yelp as she backed away, the dying fly weakly snapping at her legs.

“That is disgusting,” Weiss muttered, watching fluid pool under the bug queasily.

Heartbeat slowing, Blake nodded, and realized that the room had gradually gone quiet.

The Hollow Knight and the armored beetle had made short work of the swarm of biting flies. Now, they stared at each other. Blake became aware of a tension in the room as the two figures stared at each other. Beside her, Weiss pointed her rapier forward, eyes narrowed.

The tension was broken by a short chuckle from the armored knight.

“I never thought I’d see you again, our Hollow Knight. Do you remember me?”

The Hollow Knight gave a terse nod.

“Still as serious as ever...” the armored knight muttered, “Though considering the circumstances, I do not blame you.”

The armored knight turned towards Blake and Weiss. Thankfully not hostile. Blake wasn’t sure her aura could take even a single hit from that mace.

“And who might you two be? I’ve never seen your kind in our kingdom.”

Blake let Weiss take point here. The Schnee heiress was better at this sort of polite talk.

“I am Weiss Schnee. And this is Blake Belladonna. We are...new to Hallownest. Who might you be?”

“Hah, you’re definitely new to Hallownest! Though I suppose I am no longer a den-name. I am Sir Hegemol, Knight of Hallownest,” the armored knight said, matching Weiss’s polite tone.

A Knight of Hallownest? That would explain why he seemed to know the Hollow Knight.

“So, what are the two of you doing, traveling with the Hollow Knight?” Hegemol asked.

“We found ourselves together through chance, Sir Hegemol. And we continue traveling together to unravel a mystery.”

“Oho, a mystery? Hallownest has many of them, Weiss Schnee. Which one are you trying to find?”

Weiss narrowed her eyes, and Blake recognized her teammates thinking face. Weiss didn’t know what to say next, and was thinking about her next words carefully.

Before she could, Hegemol smashed his mace into the ground and faced the Hollow Knight.

“Humor me, our Hollow Knight. It has been long since I had a good fight. Ease an old knight’s yearning.”

The Hollow Knight stared at Hegemol for a moment, before unsheathing their nail.

“Wait-!” Weiss began.

The Knight charged at the same time Hegemol leaped. And Blake tackled Weiss out of the way of the shrapnel as Hegemol slammed into the ground. The entire cave shook under his weight. A moment after Hegemol cratered the ground, the Hollow Knight appeared behind him in a flash of darkness, scoring a long slash on Hegemol’s armor.

Hegemol twirled around, with grace and speed that you wouldn’t think one of his size, and slammed his mace into the Knight. The Knight flew back with a sickening crack and Blake hissed. There was no way that _didn’t_ hurt.

But much like their previous fight, the Hollow Knight did not give up easily. Climbing back to their feet, the Knight charged at Hegemol once more. It reminded Blake of Yang’s, who employed the maxim of ‘hit the enemy real hard, real fast’. _Unlike_ Yang, the Hollow Knight did not have a semblance that allowed them to hit harder the more damage they had taken. If the Knight even had a semblance in the first place, it was probably their ability to teleport-

“Come, our Hollow Knight!” Hegemol bellowed, “Show me your strength!”

The Knight charged and disappeared once more, this time appearing by Hegemol’s side and slashing at his face with blistering speed, sending Hegemol stumbling back. The Knight pressed on the attack, slashing at Hegemol continuously. Hegemol stumbled back a bit further, before visibly bracing himself and pushing away the Knight’s onslaught with his arms. Countless scratches covered his armor but Hegemol himself seemed unharmed.

The massive knight took another step forward, taking the Hollow’s Knight’s blows without flinching and raising his mace up high. Right before the mace slammed onto the Knight, they disappeared in a flash of shadows, reappearing a distance away. It was clear that the Knight was tired, though they were trying their best not to show it. That hit from earlier couldn’t have helped.

“We have to help-” Blake began. Weiss pulled her back.

“No. If this is truly just a duel between knights, Hegemol won’t kill the Hollow Knight.”

“Did you see the way he was swinging that mace around? And the way the Hollow Knight was attacking?”

“The Hollow Knight has aura, and we must assume that Hegemol does too,” Weiss muttered. As she did, she revolved Myrtenaster’s dust chamber to fire dust. So at least her teammate was preparing for the worst…

“Your time in the Black Egg Temple has left you weaker, our Hollow Knight,” Hegemol said at last, “Not that I can blame you-”

The Hollow Knight stabbed their sword into the ground and began to glow with a white light.

“Aha, I see that you still have flight left in you!” Hegemol laughed, slamming his mace into the ground. Blake watched as the Hollow Knight’s aura became brighter and brighter, before exploding outwards. Ribbons of white light formed intricate patterns in the air and the Knight looked healthier, as if healed.

Then the patterns around the Knight pulsed and there was a loud explosion of white light around the Hollow Knight. The cave shuddered, echoes of the explosion rumbling.

At least she thought it had been echoes till she saw the first of the boulders fall from the ceiling.

“Watch out!” Blake tackled Weiss out of the way of a boulder, wincing as she felt it slam into the spot they had just been. Once started, the cave ceiling fell with remarkable speed and Blake only had a moment to try and find an exit before Weiss pushed her down. Pointing Myrtenaster into the air, the Schnee heiress summoned a shield of her normal glyphs, bracing herself.

The ceiling fell on them, and Blake knew that Weiss couldn’t hold the entire weight of all that stone. A particularly large boulder rushed towards them, Blake flinched back, closing her eyes as Weiss screamed.

There was a solid thud that vibrated in Blake’s bones, and a deep grunt. Opening her eyes and marveling that she still could, Blake saw Hegemol lifting the massive boulder above his shoulders. Beside her, Weiss looked stunned.

“Are you two alright?” Hegemol grunted.

“W-We’re fine,” Weiss began.

There was stone all around them and everything was dark. Hesitantly Weiss summoned a small glyph, and the faint light sent strange shadows across Hegemol’s faceplate.

“The ceiling shouldn’t have caved in like that, even with us fighting,” Hegemol said slowly, “Hallownest may not have been what it once was, but...I’ll bet anything it was those Vengeflies. They only swarm like that when there’s a king around, especially the bigger ones. I’d heard scurrying around and had gone to investigate...What strange ways the water flows, to meet an old face in this old kingdom, hah!”

“Are you alright?” Blake began. Hegemol was strong, that was no doubt. But under the weight of this much stone…

“I am Sir Hegemol, Blake Belladonna! They did not call me the Mighty because of my killer jokes!” Hegemol boasted, “Go, now! I am strong enough to handle this, but squishy little bugs like you? Go!”

“Where to?” Weiss snapped. Blake grabbed her teammates arm.

“I see an opening. Just big enough for us to crawl through,” Blake said. Remarkably calm, but this wasn’t the first time she’d narrowly avoided death. Came with being a Huntress in-training, among...other things.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Weiss asked Hegemol again.

“I am touched by your worry, both of you. I shall be fine. Now go!”

There was authority and steel in that voice, and Blake pulled Weiss along with her as they crawled through the crevasse. It was cramped and jagged and at points Blake thought she might get stuck. It didn’t help to think of all the unstable tons of rock overhead…But they made it out into the open.

In time to see the Hollow Knight bound like a turkey and a strange bug pointing a sword their way.

* * *

_The strength to protect others...That is what I train for, my King._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) This was a truly remarkable feat, considering that half the class considered Port's lectures as the perfect accompaniment to naps
> 
> (2) Faunus, the sibling species of humanity. Resembling humans greatly, faunus differ not only by their visible animalistic features (such as a set of cat ears or a tail) but because of a varied range of senses and deeper biological structures. And faced with the similar yet not, humanity did what it did best - be jerks about it
> 
> (3) This does not include the mice that hit cats over the head with hammers
> 
> And by popular demand, the third chapter! I can't promise all the chapters will come out with this speed, but I'm having a lotta fun writing this. Only made better by how much y'all seem to enjoy reading this! Thank you very much!
> 
> Ah, Sir Hegemol. We never see him in game, but we have bits and pieces, enough to extrapolate. 
> 
> Unlike writing for the Hollow Knight, writing for the RWBY characters is a different kettle of fish. Not difficult, but I want to write them with more nuance than I see a few parts of fandom characterize them with. I hope that I do not do the characters too much injustice. 
> 
> Who might this strange bug be? What will happen to Hegemol? Will Weiss, Blake, and the Hollow Knight be back in time for lunch?
> 
> Tune in next time to find out!


	4. Hallownest's Protector

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Team RWBY attracts the attention of Hallownest's protector.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and Hollow Knight do not belong to me. They belong to RoosterTeeth and Team Cherry respectively.

**Chapter 4: Hallownest’s Protector**

_Protector of a fading land..._

The bug looked like the Hollow Knight. Much smaller, only as tall as Weiss, and with smooth horns rather than the Knight’s three serrations. Instead of a tattered grey cloak that covered the Knight’s upper body, this bug wore a deep pink cloak that almost resembled a waist length dress. But their eyes were the same bottomless black as the Hollow Knight’s.

And then the strange bug spoke.

“So, you are the ones intruding upon this ruined kingdom,” the bug’s voice was feminine. Had Blake heard the voice on the street, she would’ve envisioned a girl her age or slightly older.

The Hollow Knight struggled against invisible bonds and Blake narrowed her eyes. Behind her, Weiss unsheathed her rapier.

“And who might you be?” Weiss asked carefully.

“Who I am is of no concern, stranger,” the bug said. Her tone of voice reminded Blake of those first few days working with Weiss, back when she had an...attitude problem. A voice full of authority and the unshaken belief that people would listen to that authority. But there was more in the bug’s voice than Weiss had. A sense of...experience. Sorrow and resolve.

Weiss had been a spoiled princess. This bug reminded Blake of some of the more senior White Fang members. People who’d seen the worst of people, who’d seen so much hope and plans burn to ash.

Blake tapped into her aura, ready to launch herself into battle. She might not have had a weapon, but she wasn’t useless.

Those senior White Fang members weren’t pushovers.

Blake wasn’t sure of Weiss recognized the danger in the bug, but the heiress had her weapon at the ready and a face that was not amused.

“You point your weapon at us, _stranger_. It would seem very much a concern for us.”

“Hmph! You hold that weapon as if you intend to fight, oh pale one.”

The bug put such a twist in the word pale that Blake raised an eyebrow. And she doubted that the bug was making fun of Weiss’s complexion.

“Maybe I do,” Weiss bit out.

“Ha! Very well then, pale one. You who dares stir up things best left forgotten. You who does not realize what curses lays deep within this kingdom. If you wish to continue to meddle within the affairs of Hallownest, then gar'hama!”

With that guttural cry the bug brandished her sword. It was a strange thin weapon, that resembled a needle more than anything-

The bug threw her weapon towards them and it whistled through the air, almost impaling Weiss. As her teammate slid out of the way, Blake saw a glint of silvery thread and watched as the bug pulled the sword back towards her.

‘ _So thats why it looks like a needle!’_ Blake thought. Followed by, ‘ _That’s my strategy!’_ (1)

Weiss waved her rapier, pulling the trigger on the dust canister. Sparkling red dust filled the air for a brief moment before Myrtenaster caught fire. With a kiai Weiss slashed at the bug, a wave of fire flowing towards her.

“Ha!” the bug cried, leaping high above them and the wave of fire. Hanging in the air as if defying gravity, the bug tensed and seemed to push herself off of the air itself, rocketing towards Weiss.

‘ _These bugs don’t make sense!’_

Weiss once again slid out of the way of the attack, but now the bug was right beside her and unleashed a blistering volley of stabs. Not all of which Weiss avoided.

‘ _She’s fighting blind!’_

Weiss cried out as the bug scored a hit in her midsection. If not for aura, that would’ve been fatal.

Pressing her advantage, the bug pulled back her sword for another stab as Weiss stumbled. At that exact moment, Blake slammed into her.

It wasn’t like hitting another human. Human’s weren’t soft by any means, but compared to the bug?

It was like slamming into a mannequin with hard edges.

The bug stumbled back and Blake pressed her advantage, throwing out a jab towards her face, nails outstretched. If her opponent had been human, she would’ve raked their eyeballs and, aura or not, that would’ve stung.

Blake’s nails didn’t meet aura, scratching across the smooth material of the bug’s white mask. The bug flinched and Blake threw a kick at her knees. Meeting empty air as the bug twirled to the side, Blake fumbled and turned just in time to see silvery thread surround the bug.

“Heg’ale!” the bug shouted, fine thread filling the air as she swung her sword so fast that it blurred. Blake felt the phantom twinges as razor sharp thread cut against her aura. That wasn’t the alarming part. What was alarming was that the threads stuck, and were wrapping around her-!

Blake tapped into her semblance just as a thread looped against her throat, and leapt away. She watched as the shadow she left behind got sliced into ribbons by thread that more resembled garrote wire than silk. And swore as she realized that some of that very thread was still hanging onto her, thankfully cut from the rest.

The bug paused only for the slightest moment before leaping back, eyeing Blake warily. At least the faunus hoped it was warily. The mask made it hard to tell…

‘ _Fighting people in white masks, again_ ,’ she snarked to herself.

The bug began to circle her, legs pitter-pattering against the stone floor and Blake did the same. She wasn’t about to let the bug get the drop on her again. She hoped that Weiss had something prepared though…

“Shah!” the bug cried out, rocketing towards her. Blake tensed, creating a shadow clone at the last minute and leaping to the side. The bug slammed into the clone – and leapt off of it just as Blake leapt into the air for a kick.

‘ _How-?!’_

Both of them were in the air and the bug wasted no time leaping off thin air once more, lunging towards her. It was only jumping off another shadow clone that saved Blake from being hit. The two of them landed, skidding across the ground. Blake’s ears twitched as she heard the patter of many legs and spun around just in time to see the bug whirl around on four pairs of spidery legs, sword still in hand.

The bug launched herself with another cry, and it was all Blake could do to avoid a flurry of stabs and slashes.

‘ _Never. Going. Without. A. Weapon. Ever._ _Again!_ ’

“Shah!” the bug spun around, almost scraping the edge of her sword against Blake’s stomach, “Ed’ino!”

‘ _Any time now Weiss!_ ’

Blake lunged at the bug again, trying to score another blow on her mask. The bug whirled her sword around, stabbing Blake in the chest. Blake leapt away as her shadow took the hit and aimed a blow at the bug’s side when she felt something tug at her heel.

‘ _No!_ ’

Too late she saw the thin thread all across the floor, and time seemed to slow down. She saw hidden limbs writhe under the bug’s pink dress, threads wrapping around her legs and pulling taught.

Blake hit the ground, her head slamming against the stone. Hard.

Even with aura, the phantom pain that bloomed in her head created small spots across her vision. When they cleared, the bug was standing over her, sword pointed at her throat.

“I know not what sorcery you use, stranger. But it is now time to end this.”

“And end it I will!”

Glyphs blossomed across the cave, each various colors. And Weiss Schnee lunged towards the bug, fiery rapier in hand. The bug leapt away, dodging the flaming sword – but not the shard of ice that rocketed from an icy blue glyph behind her. As the bug cried out, Weiss leapt into the air, propelled by glyphs, and lunged at the bug again. Another glyph spun, spitting out a blast of air.

A deadly dance blossomed, Weiss pirouetting and lunging towards the bug, propelling herself off of black glyphs while the bug tried to avoid the dust glyph traps Weiss created. Blake could see the sheen of sweat on Weiss’s face as she concentrated – the bug was keeping herself in the air by bouncing again and again off of thin air, trying to dodge everything.

The first one to make a wrong move would loose.

In the end it was the bug. The last of Weiss’s trap glyphs activated, turning dark purple and pulling at the bug with the power of gravity dust. Blake saw the bug stumble from her leap and fall through the air. And Weiss slashed across the bug, sending them both to the ground.

Blake, who’d been trying to rip the thread off her legs without cutting her hands, barred her teeth in a grin.

When the dust cleared, Weiss and the bug stood facing each other. Blake could barely hear Weiss’s short controlled breaths over the sound of the bugs loud gasping.

“Do you yield?” Weiss asked slowly as she breathed.

“...For now, I do,” the bug admitted, getting her breath under control.

“You are not what I had expected, pale stranger. You and your friend. But know this. This kingdom holds many dark secrets, none of which should be disturbe-”

The Hollow Knight roared, finally breaking free of the many threads that had bound them. With a ‘vworp’ of darkness they teleported to Weiss’s side, holding their sword at the ready. Blake saw the bug tense and Weiss smirk.

“...Though seeing as you’ve awoken one of Hallownest’s darkest secrets, I know that no warning of mine will stop you from trying to dig up more,” the bug stood up and stared at the looming Hallow Knight.

“Peace, my cursed sibling. I shall bother your _friends_ no longer. All I ask is that you leave the kingdom that has cursed you alone. Some things better remain undisturbed.”

“Wait, wha-?”

Before Weiss could finished her question, the bug leapt into the air and Blake saw the solitary thread that trailed off into the darkness above them. Before anyone could stop her, the strange bug had zipped away, out of even Blake’s sight. Leaving only a whisper on the air.

“ _Dare not follow me, oh Hollow Knight. No more shall shadows haunt me...”_

* * *

_Protector of a fading land..._

* * *

“Blake!”

Danger passed, Weiss could feel her heart slowing and the buzz of battle fading. She ran towards her teammate, trusting that the Hollow Knight would protect her from any nasty surprises in the dark.

Her teammate looked worse for the wear, school uniform dusty and shallow scrapes across her skin where her aura had grown thin in battle. Blake was still struggling to unbind her legs, making a low hiss as she tried to tip thread.

“Allow me,” Weiss said, carefully and swiftly cutting through the thread. It took more force than she expected. The thread acted more like steel wire than silk.

Blake began massaging her legs, before accepting Weiss’s hand.

“Thanks.”

“Are you okay?” Weiss asked, placing a hand on Blake’s shoulder and frowning. Despite being unarmed the raven haired girl had lunged straight into the fight. Weiss would’ve expected such a move from Yang, but Blake?

“I’m fine. The question is, are you okay? You were fighting in the dark. And she was aiming to kill,” Blake said darkly.

Weiss shivered at the reminded, still remembering the phantom touch of sharp steel across her stomach. Just like the Hollow Knight and that...Vengefly?

‘ _She called them ‘my cursed sibling’ ‘_ Weiss thought. After giving Blake a once over to make sure she was alright, Blake giving her a deadpanned stare all the while, Weiss turned towards the Hollow Knight. In the gloom of the cave, it was nothing more than barely discernible shadow, towering over them. It felt like they could disappear into the darkness at any moment.

Weiss was no longer afraid of the Hollow Knight. A short time though she’d known them, they had plenty of opportunity to hurt her and her friends. None of which they had taken. She did not fear the Knight -

But she wanted to know more.

First’s things first though…

“We should get going,” Weiss said tersely, “The rest of this place could cave in at any moment. And no doubt that we’ve been missed. I can only hope we haven’t missed any classes...”

Weiss held out a hand. Blake grabbed it, and after a moment’s hesitation the Hollow Knight placed their hand on Blake’s shoulder. Weiss summoned the Dream Nail, raising the strange rapier high into the air.

As she swung it down, she heard the skittering of many feet and Blake give a strangled cry. But the world whited out before Weiss could see what had happened. When Professor Port’s classroom returned, Blake had taken a few steps back, pale like death.

“Blake?” Weiss asked, concerned. The raven hair beauty turned wild eyes towards her, and Weiss refused to take a step back.

“Blake, what’s wrong?” she asked, urgent.

Blake took a deep breath, and then another. Before shaking her head and tying her ribbon over her cat ears.

“I-It’s nothing. Just...felt a gift our little bug friend left us.”

Weiss knew that Blake was lying. And she felt a stab of hurt by that. Didn’t Blake trust her? But the more pragmatic side of her knew that Blake hid many things. Being Ex-White Fang terrorist, it came with the territory. But Blake wasn’t that anymore. Maybe she had skeletons in the closet, but Weiss wouldn’t be the one to force them into the light.

She’d have to trust that her teammate would speak when ready. But it still hurt.

* * *

_Protector of a fading land..._

* * *

The Hollow Knight did not feel right. It wasn’t a physical malady. Killing the Vengeflies had given it enough soul to focus on healing Sir Hegemol’s blows. But still, it could feel some squirming feeling deep within it.

The Gendered Child. Child of the Beast and the King. The Knight’s sister. Hornet.

She was still alive. But far different from the Hornet it remembered. Yes, Hornet had been serious, even back then. But she had been cocky, excitable – in a way she had resembled Yang Xiao Long.

Now, there was a sense of melancholy to her, that reminded the Hollow Knight of its final days in the Palace. The Queen had left for her gardens, followed by Dame Dryya. Isma and Hegemol remained at the Palace while Ze’emeer left to the Mantis Village to ensure their loyalty. And-

The exiled knight had last been seen in the Royal Waterways.

The Palace had been quiet and somber, last the Hollow Knight remembered. Hornet now held that same melancholy. More than that, she had honed her mother’s ruthlessness into a lethal presence. Hornet was sharp, and if one wasn’t wary enough approaching her they would die.

That was not the Hornet the Knight remembered.

Ignoring Hornet, the Knight...Had lost. Lost it’s battle with Sir Hegemol. It knew that its time in the Black Egg Temple must’ve weakened it, but to this degree? It was unacceptable. The Knight would have to train. Nothing in Hallownest would impede it or the Lady Weiss again.

But when they had gone back, to that strange kingdom of Remnant, something was amiss. They had come back just before ‘lunch’ was over, and Yang Xiao Long and the Nailsmith Ruby had been displeased with them. Not in anger, but in worry. The Lady Weiss and Blake Belladonna had apologized and said they would explain later, and that seemed to settle things for now.

But Blake Belladonna was acting strange. Not paying attention in classes or conversations, eyes focused on something further away than walls. Starting suddenly when someone called her name. The Hollow Knight observed this furtive behavior for a good part of the day, and still did not know why. Blake Belladonna had not been like this encountering the Vengefly Kings, Hegemol, or even fighting Hornet.

By deduction, then it had to have been that figure in the darkness that the Hollow Knight had seen Blake staring at. Appearing suddenly before the Lady Weiss cleft the veil once more, it was too faraway to make out properly. It looked less like a bug and more like a human, dressed in dark clothes and a white mask that resembled those Grimm the Professor Port had spoken of. The only other discernible feature had been hair so red it looked dark, like freshly spilled blood.

But why would a sight like that affect Blake Belladonna so?

Now they were in a library. It was not like the libraries of Monomon the Teacher, with strange glass containers of liquid, and Monomon’s uomas floating around the shelves of scrolls and tablets. This library had high wooden shelves of things called books, illuminated by the light of the Higher Being known as the Sun, who’s light shone through large windows.

It was apparently something called Study Hour, where the students were meant to hone whatever skill they thought necessary. So, the Nailsmith Ruby took them all to the library, into a secluded corner.

After making sure that no one was indeed around, the Hollow Knight walked back to the table team RWBY had taken. The Lady Weiss was sitting as a noble did, waiting patiently for the Hollow Knight. The Nailsmith Ruby sat next to her, fidgeting. Blake Belladonna sat, staring at faraway things once more. And Yang was standing, both her hands on the table.

“Alright, you said it was a long story. Talk.”

The Lady Weiss did, from the very beginning, with minor additions from Blake Belladonna. By the end of it Yang Xiao Long was sitting down incredulously and the Nailsmith Ruby had an expression paradoxically ranging from disappointed to happy.

“I understand that I shouldn’t have kept it a secret,” Weiss said, “And I truly meant to tell you all. I...I didn’t feel like I had enough to tell you.”

The Nailsmith Ruby reached out and flicked the Lady Weiss’s forehead.

“Hey!”

“You should’ve told us, so we could _help,_ ” the Nailsmith Ruby reprimanded, gentle.

The Hollow Knight did not know why the Nailsmith Ruby was leader of the team, but it had not seen reason to complain. Most likely it did not hold all the facts and customs of this kingdom.

“I know,” Weiss admitted.

“So, what? We’re going to solve a magic mystery?” Yang asked, dubious.

“We certainly can’t just let it sit idle,” Weiss objected.

“Weiss is right, Yang. This is very big, whatever’s happening,” Ruby said.

Yang Xiao Long ‘hmmed’ and turned towards Blake Belladonna.

“What do you think?”

“...That strange bug said that Hallownest is cursed. And this Seer warned Weiss as well,” Blake said after a moment, “Not doing anything might be dangerous.”

The Knight shifted. Cursed. It was not sure what Hornet had meant by that. Hallownest was not cursed. Not anymore, at least.

The Old Light hadn’t held those Vengeflies it had killed. Sir Hegemol was still alive, and the rest of the Great Knights must have been too. What could the Gendered Child have been referring to, if not the plague?

“So, shouldn’t we tell Professor Ozpin about this, instead?” Yang asked.

“How would he know anything more than we do?” Blake fired back.

Yang Xiao Long blinked at her raven haired teammate and the Lady Weiss cleared her throat.

“I was going to tell the Headmaster after we discovered more,” Weiss said.

“...Alright. Solid plan. So what do we know?” Yang asked.

The Nailsmith Ruby disappeared and reappeared in a flash of red flower petals, holding a notebook and a pen.

“Right! So, here’s what we got so far!”

The Nailsmith Ruby began to write, taking suggestions from her teammates. In the end, the list was...short.

“Not a lot to go on,” Blake said, looking at the list.

“Why don’t we ask the big guy?” When eyes turned her way, Yang Xiao Long shrugged.

“They’re from Hallownest. And that weird bug called them sibling, right?”

Four pairs of eyes turned towards the Hollow Knight, and Yang Xiao Long pushed the paper towards it.

“Go ahead, big guy.”

It took a moment to figure out how the writing instrument worked. Once it had done that, the Knight carefully wrote ‘ _The Gendered Child, Hornet’._ Right away the problem became apparent.

“That just looks like chicken scratch,” Ruby said, staring at the Hollow Knight’s runes. The Lady Weiss had her head in her hands.

“I thought cause they understood us they’d have the same writing system, stupid...”

“Why don’t you use that Dream Nail thing?” Blake asked. Weiss sighed.

“It’s not a conversation. I can only...’read’ snippets of thought. It’d be long and tedious-”

“Not good in the long term,” Yang said, leaning back in her chair. The Nailsmith Ruby perked up.

“You have a plan, sis?”

“Well, they can write, right? And they understand us. So all we gotta do is teach them good ol’ Valish.”

“You say that like’s its simple,” Blake said. Yang shrugged.

“We’ve got like thirty more minutes of Study Hour. I’ll see what I can do. Come here big guy. Rest of you should probably finish some homework, specially you Weiss.”

The Lady Weiss nodded.

“I am behind...” she admitted.

“Ooh, I’ll help!” Ruby said.

“Right then, come here big guy!”

The next twenty minutes, Yang Xiao Long taught it their kingdom’s written word. She was a good teacher, patient and unyielding. The Hollow Knight listened intently, absorbing the strange symbols the golden human threw at it.

Finally, Yang Xiao Long said, “That’ll be all for today. Can’t throw it all at you in one go, right?”

The Hollow Knight gave a polite nod, before concentrating on the paper, writing in the strange script. It focused so much, it might’ve used a bit of Soul doing so. Finally, the Knight dropped the pen and took a step back. Yang took the page and read it out loud.

“The Gendered Child, Hornet. Sibling,” she read slowly.

Silence followed her words and the Knight became aware of the many eyes on it. The Lady Weiss opened her mouth, interrupted by beeping from her pocket. The Lady Weiss looked from her pocket to the paper several times, mouth twisted into a grimace.

“...We’re talking about this later. After classes.”

* * *

_Protector of a fading land..._

* * *

“It’s graceful, isn’t it?”

Professor Ozpin took a sip of coffee as the Hollow Knight glanced at it. Just as he had expected, Glynda only allowed the Hollow Knight in the classroom if it stood at the very back of the arena hall, out of the way. This suited Ozpin, who didn’t want to interrupt Glynda’s combat class. She’d never forgive him.

The Hollow Knight looked at him for a moment, before turning back to the spar. Miss Rose versus Mister Lie. A battle of speed and evasion, because the first hit would most likely spell victory. Ruby Rose hit hard and fast, and while Lie Ren did not hit as hard, he hit much faster in close range. He was well versed in hand to hand combat, switching between unarmed and armed combat on the fly. That some of his fighting style looked suspiciously like moves from Kuchinashi(2)...Well, one could hardly fault someone for surviving anyway they could, especially with what he knew of Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie’s pasts. And less than highbrow honorable combat moves aside, Mister Lie was a kind young man.

One that didn’t have the stamina to match Ruby Rose’s dashing around, Ozpin thought as he observed the way Lie Ren breathed and shook even as he twisted in and out of the range of Ruby Rose’s scythe. He’d have to work on that in the future.

In the back of his mind, a part of him that was always plotting noted that Lie Ren and Ruby Rose had a lot to teach each other. They both had speed and agility, but Lie Ren had not the stamina, and Ruby Rose relied on her weapon greatly. Distantly, he wondered if they’d figure it out and ask each other for pointers. That’d be the best, for students to take initiative.

The headmaster took another sip of coffee, watching the Hollow Knight stare at the boss fight. He wondered if this strange being had come to similar conclusions. Part of him burned to ask the Knight what they thought. A hard task for one who couldn’t speak, but nowhere near impossible. Sign language would be difficult though-

“Ha!”

A swing of that great scythe, a dodge a fraction too slow. Lie Ren tumbled across the ground, his aura in the red.

“End!” Glynda Goodwitch announced, with force and expression that made it clear that anymore fighting would taste her riding crop, and only her riding crop if they were lucky.

Ruby Rose twirled her scythe into its more compact form and Lie Ren managed to get to his feet, a rueful smile to match Ruby’s sheepish grin. Ozpin turned back to the Hollow Knight as Glynda spoke to both combatants and the room at large about the battle – what had been done right and what had been done wrong.

“There are many things I would like to ask you. You and Team RWBY.”

The Hollow Knight either didn’t know anything or was too well trained to flinch. They simply turned black eyes towards him.

“I have suspicions,” Ozpin could feel forebodings in the air, and swear he could taste traces of magic all across _his_ academy, “And I’d like to lay them to rest. But, I will wait.”

He believed that Weiss Schnee and her team would tell him what they found. He wanted to believe…

The Hollow Knight stared at him some more, before giving the faintest nod and looking back at the class.

Taking one last sip of coffee, Professor Ozpin slipped out of the class as silently as he had slipped in.

* * *

_Protector of a fading land..._

* * *

“Right, so classes are over for the day. Now are we finally getting to the bottom of this?” Yang asked.

“You’re oddly excited,” Weiss noted.

“Well, why wouldn’t I be? As far as adventures go, a dream world full of bugs is pretty high up there!” Yang grinned.

Weiss looked around them, but there was no one around. They were outside, in Beacon’s sprawling campus. The twilight sun was shining down on them, and Yang could taste the last days of summer on the wind. Soon the first whispers of the chill of autumn would return, but for now, it was a comfortable warmth. Anyone else outside would be playing around in the nice weather, freeing themselves from today’s classes. They wouldn’t come near a huddled group of girls, especially with the Hollow Knight looming over them and staring at anyone who came close.

Besides, Yang had made sure that no one was in ear shot when she had said that. Adventure was fun, danger and all. But getting looked at like a crazy person wasn’t. It wasn’t just adventure that made her a bit impatient either.

Something had happened to Blake. Her partner wouldn’t tell her, and Weiss didn’t know either. Blake seemed like the quiet type at first glance, but there was a difference between quiet and the mulish silence they were getting today.

Something had happened and Yang wanted to get to the bottom of it. And she _would_ get to the bottom of it.

“Yang’s right. I kinda want to see this place too,” Ruby said. There was a smile on her face, but she was calm. Like a leader should be, Yang thought proudly.

“This’ll be an unofficial Team RWBY mission, so chins up everyone!”

Yang grinned, stretching a bit, and she saw Weiss smother the start of a smile. Even Blake ghosted a smile, strained as it might’ve been. The Hollow Knight just stared at all of them before nodding.

At Ruby’s words, Weiss held out her hand. A glyph unlike any other Yang had ever seen formed in her teammate’s hand. Wheel shaped, with spokes that looked like a bloomed flower. Glowing a strange pink light that gave Yang gooseflesh. The moment Weiss grabbed the glyph it unfurled into an otherworldly replica of her rapier, the blade constantly shifting and leaving afterimages. It was very, very trippy.

And then Weiss lifted the ghostly blade above her head, the weapon exploding into a plume of feathery fire. With a yell the snow haired girl cut the very air in front of her, leaving a long glowing gash. For a moment everything was silent-

-Glyphs exploded from the cut and across her vision, the world whiting out-

-And when the world returned, it returned with a vengeful downpour.

“Hey!”

“What the-!”

“Rain?”

That was Ruby, who had looked up at the torrential downpour before lifting the hood of her red cloak. Some looked at her little sister and the bright red cloak she always wore and thought ‘impractical’ and ‘fantastical’. They didn’t know that said cloak was waterproof, most kinds of weatherproof, retained heat, and had pockets. Ruby chose the cloak to be fashionable, yes, but to her little sister fashionable also meant ludicrously practical.

It was raining. It was the kind of rain that wouldn’t let up anytime soon. Coupled with the dark gloom all around them that said ‘cave’, well, Yang couldn’t see shit. Only the Hollow Knight’s looming figure, the silhouettes of her teammates, and half warped shadows all around them. It was kind of creepy.

“Where are we?” Yang asked. What kind of cave had _rain_?

“It’s a city.”

Everyone turned to Blake. The raven haired girl had undone her bow, cat ears free and twitching. And Blake’s amber eyes seemed to glow in the misty gloom.

“A city?” Ruby asked, her eyes flashing silver as she turned towards Blake.

Blake nodded.

“It’s a city. Not like Vale though. The buildings and layout clearly weren’t made by humans.”

Scratch that, it was eerie. Yang felt a chill up her spin and couldn’t help but look around for movement. Not that she could see much of anything.

Aside from the hiss of the rain, she couldn’t hear anything.

A chime came from Weiss as she summoned the Dream Nail once more. In the pinkish light, the pale girl looked like a ghost. Rather than raise the weapon high above her head, she turned to the Hollow Knight.

“Do you know what this place is?” and then prodded the Knight with the pink rapier. Soft glyphs surrounded the Knight, and Weiss hmmed.

“They said its called the ‘City of Tears’,” Weiss sounded troubled. Not that Yang could blame her. Names held meaning, and what had to have happened to name a city after tears?

“Why?” Ruby asked, ever curious. Weiss prodded the Knight once more.

“Because of ‘the rain’,” Weiss said, dubious.

“Gotta be more than that,” Yang insisted.

Weiss was about to say something when-

Something move above them, swinging onto the roof of a house Yang could barely make out. Next to them, Blake and the Hollow Knight tensed.

“It’s her!” Blake hissed. Team RWBY as one turned towards the blurry figure, Yang’s hands curling into fists.

“Hmph! Ha'gana sa'gana,” a feminine voice spoke, before running into the distance.

“After her!” Ruby commanded.

Easier said than done. Three fifths of their team couldn’t see, and the City of Tears had roads that winded worse than a hog-nose snake. This wasn’t including the time Yang ran straight into a deep pond where the road was no more. Fishing her out had taken precious few seconds, and by the time they’d gotten a steaming mad(3) Yang out of the water, Blake had lost Hornet.

But the Hollow Knight hadn’t and continued to lead them deeper into the forever rainy city. Until they suddenly stopped.

The rest of Team RWBY fanned out to the side of the Knight. Weiss raised Myrtenaster and ignited it, creating a hissing light.

“Turn that off.”

The strange bug.

“And why should we?” Yang challenged. She wasn’t looking for a fight, but she was soaked and cold and she wouldn’t mind one-

A bright white light appeared. A lamp, held by a bug that looked like the Hollow Knight but wearing a pink dress. For a bug without expression, Hornet seemed very done with them.

Weiss put out the fire she had created. The lamp that the bug was holding was a much better light in this rain either way. Yang could actually see the cobblestones and the houses around the clearing-

‘ _Clearing?’_

Yang finally noticed the fountain and the statue. Made of black stone, three strange robed figures stood atop a large flower and were staring up at-

“That’s-” Yang began, stunned.

“A memorial to the Hollow Knight,” Hornet’s voice was flat, and she was looking down at a plaque of the strange writing that the Hollow Knight had shown them.

“In the Black Vault far above. Through its sacrifice Hallownest lasts eternal.”

Hornet’s tone was a winters gale.

“I wonder if any of you understand what shadows stain Hallownest,” Hornet turned towards them.

“Hornet-” Weiss began.

“The pale one knows my name. Only my cursed sibling could’ve told you. I wonder what else it told you.”

“Hey, what’s your problem?” Yang bit out. Hornet turned towards her.

“I am this Kingdom’s protector. It’s sentinel. And now its darkest secret walks the kingdom once more, with alien beings who have never walked the lands of Hallownest.”

“We don’t want a fight,” Ruby said before Yang could give Hornet a piece of her mind.

“And you're right, we don’t understand. But we want to. Could you tell us?”

“Hah! You have come to the heart of this kingdom, in search for the truth. Do you think you would find it so easil-”

Street lamps that Yang hadn’t even seen in the gloom of the City blazed to life. All across the City of Tears, street lamps and lanterns glowed and illuminated the a city both sprawling and cramped, alien and familiar.

“The Watcher has turned his sights on us,” Hornet began gravely, throwing her needle-like sword into the distance.

“If, after you find the truth of this Kingdom, you insist on going further, seek out the ash grave at the edge of this kingdom. There, you may find the road to peace, my birthcursed sibling.”

Before anyone could stop her, Hornet zipped off into the distance, swinging into the gloom of the city. Before anyone could think of running after her, they had bigger problems.

As lights illuminated, the silent City of Tears came to life.

* * *

_Protector of a fading land..._

* * *

In a shadowy alley, as the ghosts of a City long gone came to life, a figure watched the strangers for another moment before turning back. Making their way through winding roads and taking rooftops when necessary, they headed towards the spire that towered over the City of Tears.

‘ _At least I don’t have to fight anything,’_ Quirrel thought with grim cheer.

The real City of Tears was filled with the husks of bugs and guards long dead, who’d kill on sight. This one, at least, was only filled with the dreams of the dead.

Making his way into the spire and onto the long elevator ride up, Quirrel could not help but think.

‘ _So, that was the Hollow Knight? It’s statue does it no justice.’_

And the Hollow Knight deserved justice, Quirrel thought. He might not have been one of the King’s inner circle. He might not have known all the details. But...He had been Monomon’s apprentice.

‘ _Take this mask, my student. The journey I send you on will be long, and perilous, and it is more than anyone should ever ask another. Forgive me that I do...’_

Even know, long long after, Quirrel forgave his Teacher. He didn’t know everything back then. He didn’t know everything now. He was working on learning more. If not for his Teacher, than for the Little Knight that he had encountered through his most recent trek of Hallownest.

The elevator came to a stop, and Quirrel stepped out, thoughts glum. Walking past the Watcher Knights with one hand on his nail, even though they hadn’t stirred when he had came here before. Taking _another_ elevator, and-

“You return, apprentice of Monomon.”

The Watcher’s voice was soft, and gentle. It was a voice that tickled Quirrel’s old, almost forgotten memories. He hadn’t known the Watcher of the City, the King’s loyal servant, that well. What little he did remember correlated with what he felt now, staring at the strange wispy bug, body covered by a grey cloak. Only the white mask was visible, with its single black eye. The Watcher of the City, who stayed up in his Spire and kept an ever watchful eye on Hallownest’s capital.

Lurien the Watcher.

* * *

_Protector of a fading land...Sentinel of Hallownest_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1: ' Followed by, ‘That’s my strategy!’ '): Long ago, when she had chosen her weapon Blake had chosen a Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe because she could cut her opponents to ribbons from a distance, and pull her weapon back towards her when they rushed at her. Evidently the bug had the same strategy.
> 
> (2:' That some of his fighting style looked suspiciously like moves from Kuchinashi '): What the rest of the Kingdom of Mistral said about Kuchinashi followed along these lines: You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. On a scale of wretched hivery, Kuchinashi is about .3 Ankh-Morporks
> 
> (3: ' by the time they’d gotten a steaming mad '): Not metaphorical. Yang tended to burn when angry
> 
> So, another chapter! With a lotta stuff in it. Hopefully this chapter meets expectations, since this is where the gears start winding up. 
> 
> I couldn't help but add a little Spider!Hornet. It's very compelling. 
> 
> To give an idea of where this is happening chronologically as far as RWBY goes, this is in the beginning of Volume 2. As far as Hollow Knight, well...
> 
> Lie Ren intrigues me. A boy who lost his home and family at a young age, who along with Nora Valkyrie somehow became good enough to become students at Beacon Academy? A school that is an ocean away from their home of Mistral? There's enough material there that one could write an entire fanfic about their misadventures. This is not that fanfic, but I couldn't help in but sprinkle in some of my guesses. 
> 
> And poor Hollow Knight, having to relearn what skills atrophied while it was sealed away. That'll be frustrating, but they're in a good place to learn to fight. 
> 
> Team RWBY's getting closer to Hallownest's mystery. But will they discover it soon? Will they accelerate right into a situation they cannot handle?
> 
> And what does the Watcher see, high in his spire? What is Quirrel's plan? 
> 
> Tune in next time!


	5. The Watcher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Watcher watches, and plans begin to form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and Hollow Knight do not belong to me. They belong to RoosterTeeth and Team Cherry respectively. 
> 
> Now that an impromptu fever is done with, let's get on with the chapter!

**Chapter 5: The Watcher**

_In his Spire..._

“That I do,” Quirrel cleared his throat, “I saw them.”

Lurien did not stir from his seat. Did not turn away from his telescope. Did not even unhunch his back.

“What were they like, close up?”

“Strange,” Quirrel said at last, “Not like any bug I’ve ever met. With their eclectic dresses, you’d think that they were all nobles. All of them seem to wear primarily a single color, which makes me wonder if that indicates that each are from a different tribe. If so, perhaps they are a symbol of peace for their kingdom, a sign of unification?”

“What of the pale one?” Lurien asked.

“Her? If it weren’t for the obvious, she’d fit right into the Pale Court. She has a nail though. An odd one, that she can set aflame! Normal fire, I’d hazard, I couldn’t sense anything strange about it.”

“Nothing else from her?” Lurien insisted.

“No?” Quirrel scratched his head, curious as to why the Watcher was most interested in the pale girl.

“I could ask her, if you wan-”

“No.”

“Ahh.”

Lurien became silent and Quirrel sat down in a nearby seat. The Watcher had insisted they not meet with the strange bugs until they knew more. How they would ever know more without meeting them was beyond Quirrel. The Watcher said that he had an eye on the stranger’s world too, but-

He missed the Teacher. Monomon wouldn’t rest until she had a tentacle wrapped around each of these enigmas. Safe and snug and unable to escape her questions. Quirrel desperately wanted to search for her. If one Dreamer had woken up, still alive, then surely-?

But this Hallownest didn’t make sense. In the Hallownest Quirrel remembered, all he had to do was take a trek up from the City of Tears, through the Fungal Wastes, and he’d end up in the Fog Canyon where Monomon’s lab laid. Here? The City of Tears was surrounded by walls of black stone and water. Almost none of the roads or paths led anywhere. It wasn’t a simple cave-in, either. It was as if someone had made a copy of the City and just the City.

There were small paths that lead out of the City, but upon taking them Quirrel discovered that they were twisting mazes that made no sense, strange and fey. And they lead to places that didn’t make sense. You couldn’t go directly from the City to the edges of the Deepnest, yet Quirrel had done exactly that and just managed to escape.

This City of Tears might’ve only been filled with ghosts, but whatever had made this strange Hallownest had kept the Deepnest as deadly as the real thing.

“They have left.”

Lurien’s soft words broke Quirrel out of his thoughts.

“Have they?”

“Yes, using that strange nail made of dreams once more.”

“What had they done beforehand?”

“They had explored the City for a while. Trying to interact with some of the ghosts.”

Quirrel winced. Some of the ghosts were more ‘real’, but all of them did not recognize this strange Hallownest for what it was. That was how he knew that the Watcher and Lemm had been real while the Hornet currently zipping around hadn’t been.

He wondered where the real Hornet was, and hoped her safe. Yes, she had once tried to kill him but he didn’t hold it against her.

Lurien the Watcher twisted a knob on his telescope, and the air in front of the lens shimmered with those dream glyphs.

“Watching in on the other world?” Quirrel asked.

“Yes.”

For a moment Quirrel was sure that the Watcher would remain silent. To his surprise, Lurien spoke in his soft tones.

“Their world has once more been illuminated by that orange light. Across the strange castle, people mill about. And...”

Quirrel did not miss how Lurien tensed.

“And?”

“...Vehicles, like trams but oh so massive, are flying like a swarm of Durandoo and Aluba towards the castle. Many on the ground below are staring at them.”

Quirrel could scarcely imagine what scene the Watcher must have been watching. Some of what he described boggled the mind. He wished he could see it with his own eyes, what a sight this strange kingdom must have been.

Lurien becoming silent once more, and Quirrel knew that the Watcher wouldn’t speak for a long time. He wasn’t needed here at the moment. A polite goodbye that wasn’t returned and an elevator ride later, Quirrel walked the streets of the City of Tears again.

He didn’t think he’d get used to walking streets crowded with ghosts anytime soon. See through though they were, they didn’t walk past him. Not physically. If he spoke to a ghostly citizen they’d treat him like a normal bug would. But turn around for a moment, then go back to talk to them again. And they’d act like they never saw you before.

Just like the enemies.

Quirrel had killed before, his nail wasn’t for show. But foes were supposed to die and lie there on the ground, waiting for scavengers to pick them apart. They weren’t supposed to disappear when you weren’t looking and come back at a later time, alive as if you hadn’t cut them in two.

This Hallownest could get to a bug’s mind, if one wasn’t careful. A good thing then that it seemed to be the ghost of the kingdom in its prime. When the streets of Hallownest had been safe, relatively speaking.

Quirrel made his way towards the richer part of town, where the dens were made from dark purple stone. Well dressed citizens gave him odd looks but didn’t bother him. The guards were a different story, giving him particular looks and standing up a bit straighter. But Quirrel hadn’t been stopped yet. He just waved politely, knowing that the guards wouldn’t remember him or his ‘lackadaisical attitude’.

Climbing sets of stairs, he finally found himself outside of a small purple house. The moment he knocked on the door it slammed open, revealing an irate Lemm.

“Finally, you return!”

“Ah, is something the matter-?” Quirrel began.

“Is something the matter? Only that you’ve left me with a complete loon!”

Quirrel peaked into the house and saw its owner sitting in her chair and humming happily, kicking her feet. Eternal Emilitia she had called herself, when Quirrel and Lemm found her. The only other bug they had found here that wasn’t a dream. It had seemed to make sense to stay with her. Lurien the Watcher had very politely and firmly asked for solitude.

Sure, Emilitia had been a noble, with the attitude that entailed. But she’d also been around since Hallownest’s prime. Surely a Relic Seeker like Lemm wouldn’t have dared missed the opportunity to talk to such a person.

Lemm walked out of the door, into the rain that he often complained about, and Quirrel made to follow him after a goodbye to Emilitia. The older bug huffed down the stairs, grumbling.

“She only thinks about herself! Old she might be, but anything that hadn’t pertained to her or what she thought was important she holds no memory of!”

“Surely she can’t be that bad,” Quirrel said. Lemm grumbled.

“Alright, I did manage to fill up a solid journal of the gossips and grudges of the nobles of the City.”

“See? Gossip is quite the tool for anyone, be they teacher, warrior, or historian-”

“I know that,” Lemm snapped, “This is a wealth of information, as banal as it may be. I just can’t stand that woman. If only my shop was still here...”

Alas, Lemm’s shop was now the home of a bug. Or, rather, it used to be the home of a bug. Tenses, Quirrel thought wryly, were also a problem here.

“So? How did your little mission go?” Lemm asked, a knife of curiosity barely hidden by ages of experienced cynicism.

“Those strange bugs appeared once more, along with the Hallownest.”

“Hmph! And you did not talk to them?”

“The Watcher discouraged such an action.”

“Does not let me interview him, does not let any of us meet with a living legend or these strangers...” Lemm muttered.

“I too would like to talk to them,” Quirrel admitted. For different reasons than the Relic Seeker, most certainly. It is not that he did not share Lemm’s curiosity, for he did. Above all else though, he craved understanding of what has happened to them all. The Hollow Knight was his best chance for that understanding.

They walked in silence for a moment, Lemm observing the City of Tears in its prime while Quirrel thought. It wasn’t till Lemm stopped that Quirrel realized that they had reached the end of the City.

A uniform wall of black stone, marred only be the occasional building built on it and the rare clumps of mushrooms growing from various crevices. Quirrel knew that the City of Tears spent quite the effort on making sure that the Fungal Wastes never encroached onto the city, though he wouldn’t be able to tell anyone _how_ he knew this.

“Do you think you will try to explore those strange caverns past this border?” Lemm asked. Surprised by the sudden question, Quirrel took a moment to answer.

“Eventually, I suppose. Someone must find out more about this strange Hallownest.”

“Someone with a death wish, perhaps,” Lemm snorted, “One could never pay me enough to ever step foot into the Deepnest.”

“Not even with the rich culture of its tribe?” Quirrel joked.

Lemm blinked and turned his gaze towards him.

“I had seen oblique references to the Tribe of Deepnest in my studies, and most of it was not positive. One or two sources, however, spoke of intricate weavings and a culture far removed from Hallownest’s own.”

“I do not remember much of the Tribe in its prime. They were a solitary people,” that they occasionally ate intruders helped with that, “But I do have faint memories of Deepnest’s chief. I remember her being well-spoken, with a certain aura of authority to her.”

“You refer to the Beast?” Lemm’s full curiosity was upon Quirrel.

“I do refer to Herrah the Beast. I’m afraid I could not tell you much. In any case, in my most recent sojourn into the Deepnest I saw many ruins of what it once was. Many...relics one could say.”

“Yes, yes, laugh it up,” despite his words, Lemm’s eyes had a spark in them.

“Interested?” Quirrel turned towards the shorter bug. Lemm harrumphed.

“I did say you couldn’t pay me enough to step foot into Deepnest. However, if some foolhardy adventurous sort-”

“-With a death wish-”

“-were to bring me some of the Deepnest’s treasures, I would perhaps pay them a just and fair amount.”

“Now if only we had knowledge of such an ‘adventurous sort’.”

Against his will, Quirrel’s mind turned towards the small dark bug who fit that description perfectly. Based on Lemm’s surlier than usual silence, the Relic Seeker’s mind had most likely turned towards the same little knight.

Before either of them could begin a conversation about their strange friend, a loud noise emanated from one of the buildings, followed by grumbling. Lemm stepped back and Quirrel kept a ready hand on his nail, knees bent.

“Hullo there!” Quirrel called out, voice cheery despite being ready to rend something into little pieces. There was a moment of silence, even the rain of the City seeming to hush. As if the world was holding its breath.

And then a response.

“Hullo there!”

The bug that walked out of the darkness of the building was many heads taller than Quirrel, with a girth to match. With dark red armor and fluffy grey cloak, the part of the bug’s attire that was most strange was his apron, splattered with paint. The bug blinked at them, puzzled.

“How strange.”

“We could say the same about you,” Lemm said.

From the darkness of the building, a more familiar voice rang out.

“Is that you, Relic Seeker?”

An old bearded beetle walked to the side of the painter, raising an eyebrow.

“Nailsmith?” Lemm asked. Quirrel raised a friendly arm.

“Greetings, Nailsmith! What brings you to this strange Hallownest?”

The red bug and the Nailsmith gave each other looks before turning back to them.

“So you too realize whatever illusion we are under.”

“I’m not sure it is an illusion in the common sense. We are working on figuring it out,” Quirrel admitted.

“Then perhaps we should find out all we know,” the red bug mused.

Quirrel nodded.

“A fine suggestion, sir…?”

“Ah, forgive my manner,” the red bug bowed, “I am called Nailmaster Sheo.”

* * *

_In his Spire..._

* * *

If Weiss Schnee was the type of girl who kept a diary, today’s journal entry would’ve gone like so -

‘ _Dear diary, the past few days have been...rough. Blake’s becoming more and more standoffish, continuing to avoid us even during lunch by using the Hollow Knight as an excuse. I don’t have proof, but I do believe she’s going a few nights sleepless._

_The reckless dunce has completely focused on the White Fang. Not that the Fang is a laughing matter, but...Well, an interkingdom terrorist group is hardly the sort of thing first year students should be dealing with. And even if we could, they seemed to have gone...underground after our last attempt to help._

_Blake doesn’t seem to understand that we can’t do anything, and she’s destroying herself. We’re all trying to help, but she keep refusing._

_In other news, I’m still no closer to solving the mystery of Hallownest. School wasn’t designed for ‘magical mysteries’ as Ruby puts it, and I’ve had precious little time to explore the strange place. When I do, Ruby, the Knight, and myself end up in seeming endless caverns. We’ve not yet found anything quite on the scale of the City of Tears. What we have discovered is that Hallownest seems to be consistent._

_Entering from Beacon’s courtyard always lands us in the City of Tears. Entering from our room lands us in a cave that goes two ways. Three ways if you include the well in the cavern roof. The well however is boarded up with gods knows how many tons of stone. Whatever is up there, and whoever created that pathway – perhaps the original creators of Hallownest? - have not been here for a long long time._

_There is a sense of age to Hallownest that leaves me equal parts small and melancholic. I do not know why. There is frustratingly much I do not know about Hallownest, still. I would ask the Hollow Knight, but whenever they can they train. If Blake is determined, then the Knight is driven. I doubt even a Paladin could take them away from their training. The only thing that ‘distracts’ them are direct orders from me or forays into Hallownest. _

_And I’ve tried to directly order them to ease up a bit. I have been ignored, though very politely._

_Perhaps soon I will have good news. General Ironwood’s forces have docked at Beacon – what a strange sight it was to see Atlas warships in Vale’s skies – and perhaps my sister will soon join him. I long to be able to speak to her, face to face. Perhaps she can help._

Taking the pen from the page, Weiss looked around furtively before shoving what was most certainly not a diary into an inconspicuous binder titled ‘Finance’, and placing that amongst the rest of her binders.

* * *

_In his Spire..._

* * *

“Go away! Gla gla!”

“It’s alright,” Quirrel soothed. Behind him Nailmaster Sheo was out of sight. If Quirrel was enough to frighten this Fluke, then the sight of the warrior would no doubt send her into hysterics.

“Gla gla! Strange things! L-Lurking! Glowing! Gla gla!” the Fluke gibbered.

Quirrel rubbed his head, thinking about how to get the Fluke from out of the small hole she had holed herself into.

“She has quite the accent,” Sheo noted, quiet.

“I can’t recall much about the Flukes,” and this included what mist like memories he had of old Hallownest. It was most probable that he’d never encountered the Flukes before. Their tribe, if they could be called a tribe, lived in the City’s sewers. The Royal Waterway was not a place inhabited by civilized creatures. So, to most of Hallownest, the Flukes were not civilized.

Civilized or not, Quirrel could hardly leave the girl hunkered down in this manhole. It wasn’t safe – for all that this City was safe physically, Quirrel did not trust this realm. And the Fluke must have entered into the City through one of those twisting tunnels. Who or what else might follow her?

And, a small part of Quirrel simply wanted to gather every being of the real Hallownest in one place. Together they might be able to find a way back. Admittadley, what could a _Fluke_ know?

On the other hand, what could a Fluke _know_?

“Please. I mean you no harm. You must be scared. I know of a safe place, where others like us are.”

“Gla gla. S-Safe, gla? Little sisters gla gla?”

“Perhaps,” Quirrel lied, feeling slightly bad about it.

The Fluke quivered in her hole for another moment, before tentatively looking up at him and reaching out a stubby arm. Quirrel grabbed the arm firmly(1) and helped the Fluke outside. She almost leapt right back into the hole at the sight of Sheo, and it was only many soft reassurances from Quirrel about how Sheo wasn’t going to kill her that stopped the Fluke.

Making their way through the streets of the City with the Fluke in tow was an interesting experience. Quirrel was positive that she would try to bolt at some point. Instead, the Fluke kept her head down low, protecting the satchel she wore from the rain. A satchel that squirmed.

‘ _Little sisters, perhaps?’_

They made their way towards the center of the City. Dens became fancier and fancier, the ghosts of bugs became more and more aristocratic. The looks they got from the ghosts became more and more disgusted, and he knew it was only Sheo’s intimidating presence that stopped the ghosts of the guards from kicking them out.

Somehow, without problem, they made it into the Watcher’s Spire. It was here that they had all gathered despite the Watcher’s wish for solitude, seeing as Emilitia would rather not deal with the ‘rabble’ and Lemm had been close to picking up a nail.

Speaking of, the Relic Seeker looked up from the various parchment around him and squinted.

“A Fluke?” Lemm grumbled, eyes scrunched up.

“She was hiding in a tiny hole, scared out of her wits,” Quirrel said, gently pushing the Fluke into the room. The girl took a look at Lemm and the Nailsmith, before rushing towards a corner of the spire’s ground floor and hunkering down, murmuring to herself.

Lemm didn’t look pleased, but his expression wasn’t any different from how it usually was so Quirrel hazarded that it was simply the Relic Seeker’s regular distaste for people and not something worse. A lucky break, considering how many bugs considered Flukes. The Nailsmith gave the girl a pitying glance before walking up to Nailmaster Sheo and hugging him.

“Back safe, thank goodness.”

“If I can say one thing of this strange world, it is that it is safer than our Hallownest dear,” Sheo smiled.

“Perhaps in matter of beasts. But this world isn’t right, take it from this old shell.”

“You noticed too, eh?” Sheo murmured.

“You’d have to be blind not to notice it,” Lemm snorted, “And the Watcher still says nothing?”

Eyes turned towards Quirrel, and he sighed.

“No, he has yet to speak to me.”

“Tales said that the Watcher of the City had been the King’s most loyal subject, and a grave and melancholic figure,” Sheo offered.

“From what I remember, those tales are true,” Quirrel nodded. He had yet to tell them of his history, but Quirrel knew that one day he’d have to. These bugs trusted him. He could not spit on that trust. And...he yearned to share. On the lake shore, with the little shadowy knight, he had spilled his story and felt at peace. Quirrel would like to have more of that peace.

But for now, he’d hold back his tale.

“I believe I shall give him another visit. At the very least, to ask if there are any others like us currently wandering the City.”

“Do you expect more?” the Nailsmith asked.

“I have a theory,” Quirrel admitted, “But its only tentative. I don’t want to share it until I’m more certain.”

“Don’t keep us in the dark for too long,” Lemm warned.

“I won’t,” Quirrel chuckled, heading towards the elevator.

Lemm hadn’t been affected by the Plauge. Emilitia hadn’t been affected by the Plauge. The Nailmaster hadn’t either. Quirrel was positive that Nailmaster Sheo was unaffected as well.

And, if his theory held weight, then the Fluke girl would also have never been affected.

* * *

_In his Spire..._

* * *

“Hey there Weiss.”

Ruby plopped down next to Weiss, and the Schnee Heiress sighed. For the appearance of it, really. She would welcome Ruby’s cheer, a breath of sunshine in an otherwise dreary day.

Weiss frowned at the improper saying, and rubbed her eyes. She must be more tired than she had thought.

“Whatcha doing?”

“It’s planning for the Dance,” Weiss said. The Vytal Festival Ball. A hallmark and pillar of the Vytal Festival, a celebration of the varied culture of Remnant! That the Ball would be a far cry from the formal dances of Atlas and the Schnee Manor was simply a cherry on top. Weiss was ecstatic about being given this responsibility by the Headmaster.

If only it hadn’t happened because Team CFVY were on extended duration on a mission. She hoped that their senior team was okay.

“You look like you’ve been here for hours,” Ruby said, stretching her arms over the desk and casting Weiss a curious head tilt.

“I have,” Weiss admitted, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose.

Now Ruby was giving her a disappointed look. It shouldn’t have worked so well on a girl two years her younger, especially since Ruby _pouted_ when she was disappointed with someone.

“There’s a lot of planning involved,” Weiss defended herself.

“Guess that’s why they usually give it to a Team, huh?”

“Team CFVY have already done a bulk of the work. I simply must thank them when they come back.”

The reason the Headmaster had only given this job to herself and Yang was probably because a majority of the paperwork had been done by Team CFVY. Though Weiss had a slight suspicion that even Headmaster Ozpin, oddly optimistic as he was, doubted Ruby and Blake’s ability in this sort of endeavor. Eccentric though Coco Adell was, she had a flair for style that was key to these sort of events. A flair that Weiss, loathe though she was to admit it, did not have. Yang did though, and with Weiss to moderate her they made short work of the party planning. Till Yang had suddenly left her, laser pointer in hand and a determined look on her face.

“Where is Yang anyway? She’s supposed to be helping,” Weiss asked, holding back a whine.

“She’s having a talk with Blake.”

“Oh.”

She could tell from Ruby’s expression that her partner was also thinking about their teammate’s increasing self destructive behavior. All attempts to talk to Blake led nowhere. If Yang had managed to corner her though…

“I hope she’ll be okay,” Ruby whispered.

“The best we can do is be there for her,” Weiss said after a moment.

The younger girl gave her a look, before nodding.

“Right.”

Weiss couldn’t help but smile at Ruby’s determined expression. Their team leader would try everything to help Blake, she knew it. Even if it got on the raven haired girl’s nerves. But, that wasn’t a bad thing-

Something buzzed and shrieked in a way all to familiar to Weiss and she had turned around just in time to slam a sheaf of papers into a vengefly. The small predatory bug was dazed for a moment before shrieking again and flying towards her face.

There was no thought involved. Ruby had shoved something in Weiss’s hand and the heiress closed fingers over cool metal before slashing at the bug.

She’d have to ask Ruby why she had a _combat knife_ of all things later, but at the moment Weiss watched as the bug was cleft in two. Falling to the ground with a damp thud – before dissolving into the strange glyphs that Weiss knew well by now.

They might’ve been in a library, but the silence that stretched between the two girls was deafening.

“Weiss, how did it-?” Ruby began, eyes wide.

“I, I don’t,” Weiss began, feeling chilled despite the warmth of the library.

* * *

_In his Spire..._

* * *

“I see a monster, roaming the halls of that strange world.”

Quirrel’s words died in his mouth as the Watcher spoke.

“It is not one of those strange dark creatures,” Lurien whispered, “But a monster of Hallownest.”

“What?” Quirrel asked, tensing.

“I see a monster, a nightmare,” Lurien’s words were almost inaudible, “And I see its next victim.”

* * *

_In his Spire..._

* * *

Beacon had a curfew. Ren knew this. But sometimes sleep became so difficult that he had to pace around, do anything but sit still, to find rest. His team knew about it, and though Pyrrha and Jaune worried about him they still let him. Though, he thought dryly, they’d be a bit hypocritical if they stopped him, considering their own nightly escapades.

Beacon had a curfew, but seeing as how Headmaster Ozpin _also_ wandered the halls at night and happily conversed with any students he came across, it wasn’t terribly enforced. Even Professor Goodwitch didn’t try to enforce it, though she would give a Look to anyone she found.

It wasn’t like Ren was going to go far. Just a circuit around the dorms, real quick-

Something skittered in the dark.

Ren slowed his footsteps, eyes narrowing. Absently wishing he had night vision, he took his scroll out and turned on its flashlight. He began to call upon his aura as well, just in case. If this was another one of Cardin’s pranks, then he would let Nora at them, he swore-

At the edge of the hallway stood his mother. His mother, who he’d last seen trying to comfort him before she’d been buried under tons of rubble. His mother, who he didn’t even have a picture of and he was terrified of the day he’d forget how she looked-

His mother, exactly the way he remembered her, smiling at him before turning around.

Hesitant footsteps turned frantic, and in the darkness, many legs moved.

High up in his office, Headmaster Ozpin froze, the pulse of faint magic ringing through his bones.

* * *

_In his Spire, looking over the City._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1: 'Quirrel grabbed the arm firmly' ) Flukes didn’t have shells like other bugs. They were clammy and soft and fleshy. Moving tended to involve disquieting wobbling.
> 
> This chapter was a bit difficult, since nothing really happens in it till the end, action wise. It's the calm before the storm, people relaxing after the last chapter. 
> 
> Better enjoy what time they do have to relax. There won't be much of that in the future.
> 
> As always, Sheo and the Nailmaster are a lovely couple, and they most certainly are sickeningly sweet in front of Lemm and Quirrel. 
> 
> Also, hands up for those who actually remember or met the Fluke Hermit. She's an easy to miss NPC for Hollow Knight. 
> 
> And, completely unrelated, I finally watched Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Really fantastic good show, but has nothing to do with this crossover.
> 
> Gears are still winding up, though things are moving fast enough to destroy carefully thought out plans. What happened to Ren? Will he be saved? And what might this nightmare be?
> 
> Tune in next time!


	6. The Nightmare Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hallownest's nightmares rear their head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and Hollow Knight do not belong to me. They belong to RoosterTeeth and Team Cherry respectively. 
> 
> University makes one busy, especially if you study physics. But, since quantum physics isn't what people are here for, let's get on with the chapter!

**Chapter 6: The Nightmare, Part I**

_In the deepest darkness..._

The Hollow Knight had left the room of Team RWBY as soon as it had heard the skittering legs. Not distant whispers, but here and now so there was work to be done.

Carefully closing the door so as to not awaken anyone, the Knight looked down each end of the long hallway. From it’s left it heard more skittering and the Knight turned down the hallways, stepping quickly.

It almost bumped into a human. The human gave a quiet strangled yell, and the Knight stared into the green-blue eyes of the orange haired one. Nora Valkyrie?

“Good gods you almost gave me a heart attack!” Nora Valkyrie hissed, clutching her chest. The Knight stared at her as the girl got her breath under control. She was dressed in strange attire, a loose gray piece that everyone wore around here, and pants that only covered a fourth of the legs. The attire didn’t seem to be built for battle.

“What in the world are you doing out this late?” Nora wheezed.

The Knight put a hand on it’s nail.

“It’s a bit late to train, isn’t it? Don’t ya sleep? Then again, maybe you don’t-”

The Knight pointed at the girl, who pointed at herself.

“Me? Well, it’s kinda silly really, but Ren hasn’t come back yet from his nighttime walks and I know sometimes he takes a while to get back to being sleepy but he usually doesn’t take this long without messaging me and so I thought maybe I should go out and find him, maybe keep him company-”

The Knight listened to the fountain of words coming out of the girl, nodding when it seemed she was over. Then as Nora Valkyrie took a deep breath, no doubt ready to unleash more words – the Knight heard the sound of many legs.

The Knight tensed and Nora Valkyrie looked around, face uneasy.

“What was that?”

The Knight moved down the hallway, towards the sound.

“H-Hey, what’s going on?”

The Knight continued moving, noting that Nora Valkyrie began to follow closely. The girl was looking around the darkness with fear, and the Knight tapped into its Soul.

There was a point of light in the distance. Something was coming closer. The Knight began to pull Soul into its hand, ready to unleash a spell. The light grew brighter, the Knight felt Nora shuffle behind it and-

“It’s late for a walk, isn’t it?” Headmaster Ozpin said. In one hand he held his cane. In the other one of those strange objects they called Scrolls. The Headmaster’s normally amicable expression was nowhere to be seen. There was a hard look in his yellow eyes as he stared at the Hollow Knight. The Hollow Knight stared back, not sure what was happening.

From behind them came the sound of many legs and Headmaster Ozpin and the Knight turned as one, Headmaster Ozpin shining a light down the hall. Nora Valkyrie gave a strangled gasp and the Knight stared at the woman who looked remarkably like the orange haired girl. Hair slightly longer, eyes perhaps a different shade of blue, lines in her skin denoting age-

“Mom?” Nora whispered, beginning to take a step.

“Miss Valkyrie, that thing is not your mother!” Headmaster Ozpin snarled. Nora started, the woman at the end of hall began to move back-

The Knight threw forth its hand and a Shining Dagger flew forth, a streak of pure white Soul bolting towards the thing. The spell hit the woman, and no blood spilled out-

The shriek echoed across the hall, deafening, and many legs ran back into the darkness. Before anyone could think of chasing after it, the Hollow Knight felt an all too familiar pulse and chime. The sound of skittering feet vanished in an instant.

Nora Valkyrie was sitting down on the ground, still looking down the hall with wide eyes. And Headmaster Ozpin was giving the Knight a look that promised violence.

“You two. In my office, now.”

* * *

_In deepest darkness..._

* * *

The Headmaster’s office stood at the top of Beacon’s highest tower – the clock tower. This meant that Headmaster Ozpin’s office laid within the heart of countless gears and pendulums, ticking away each and every second. To be in this room meant to be constantly aware of the passage of time.

At least Ozpin had invested in comfy chairs. Not that the Hollow Knight was using them. Nora had sat on the edge of one of the chairs, cradling Ren’s scroll and looking around the office. And Headmaster Ozpin was sitting behind his desk, interlocking fingers in clasped hands and staring at the Hollow Knight.

There was a moment of silence, each second punctuated by the clicks on many gears.

“If you had any idea about whatever that creature was – If you were the one responsible, then you aren’t leaving this office.”

Nora started at Ozpin’s tone. There was none of the kind professor she had become used to. Only something cold and certain. Was this what the Grimm saw when the Professor took the field?

The Hollow Knight did not seem at all cowed by the professor’s tone. The bug stared down at the professor, before shaking their head.

The headmaster stared at the Knight for a moment, before sighing. The Headmaster suddenly looked incredibly old and tired.

“Sometimes I wish I had James’s temper. Sometimes life is easier with anger,” the headmaster pinched the bridge of his nose. “Nothing but complications since you’ve come here, but I can’t blame you. You’ve done nothing to harm any of my students, this I’m sure of,” Ozpin shot the Knight a glance, “Am I wrong?”

The Hollow Knight shook its head.

“Do you know whatever that thing was?” Ozpin asked.

Another shake of the Knight’s head.

“I suppose that was too much to hope for...” Ozpin muttered.

“U-Uh, sir?”

All eyes turned towards Nora. She was leveling them a fierce face, absently running a finger across the cracks in Ren’s Scroll.

“Where’s Ren? What’s going on?” Nora demanded.

Ozpin seemed to age several years right before their eyes, and something seemed to crack in Nora’s expression.

“H-He’s alright, isn’t he?” Nora asked, knuckles turning white as she clutched the scroll.

“Why don’t I get us some hot chocolate?” Ozpin said, standing up.

“Headmaster.”

Headmaster Ozpin stared at Nora, Nora scowling back at him, and he sighed.

“I won’t lie to you, Miss Valkyrie. I do not know what has happened to Mister Lie. I do not know if he is okay. But I do intend to find out. And I do intend to bring him back.”

“Oh.”

Nora looked down after that one word, and seemed to curl up on herself. As Ozpin left towards the cabinets in his office, he heard a quiet sob.

The Hollow Knight watched the normally exuberant girl try to mask her cries, before turning away.

When Ozpin returned with two mugs of hot cocoa in hand, he blinked at the sight of the Hollow Knight staring at a piece of paper, one of his pen’s in their hands. The Knight was staring at the paper with an intensity usually only reserved for people fighting Goliaths, before slowly putting the pen down to paper.

Ozpin was almost certain that the Hollow Knight would tear through the paper and carve into the desk it self, the way they were writing. Finally the Knight stopped, taking the paper and all but shoving it into Nora’s hands. The girl fumbled with the paper, startled, and Ozpin took a moment to look over the girl’s shoulders.

_REN. FIGHTS WELL. WOULD FIT IN HALLOWNEST. SAFE._

As Nora stared at the writing, Ozpin handed her a mug.

“The Hollow Knight is right, you know. Mister Lie is a very capable young man,” Ozpin said gently. Nora stared at the mug for a moment, before speaking in a thick voice.

“Yeah, he is.”

There was another moment of silence, and though Nora looked slightly more cheered than before, it was a brittle cheer.

“Headmaster?” she asked.

“Yes, Miss Valkyrie?”

“Do you know what...That thing, that looked like my mother...” Nora seemed lost for words.

“I’ve never encountered such a creature before. Which leads me to believe that it comes from the same place as the Hollow Knight.”

Eyes turned towards it, and the Knight shook its head. It had never encountered such a creature, or heard about anything like it. However-

“You have a suspicion?” Ozpin asked, looking at the Knight. The Knight nodded and Ozpin wordlessly handed the Knight a sheet of paper.

Nora and Ozpin waited for the Knight to write, Nora taking another sip of hot chocolate and feeling slightly cheered by it. She’d have to tell Ren that it turned out the Headmaster made a wicked cup of cocoa.

_DARK CREATURE. DEEPNEST?_

“And what is the Deepnest, when it's at home?” Ozpin asked. The Knight hesitated, clearly trying to think of words, and Ozpin gave a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry, we have plenty of time till morning.”

“Morning, sir?”

“The creature has fled for now, and I do not believe it will return. Both your Team and Team RWBY will be called for this mission. Perhaps you should go back to your do-”

“No. Sir. Please?” Nora pleaded.

Ozpin sighed, nodding.

“I thought as much. Very well, Hollow Knight. Tell us about this Deepnest.”

* * *

_In the deepest darkness..._

* * *

It was odd, being called to the Headmaster’s office. Headmaster Ozpin usually dealt with students face to face on campus grounds itself. To be called to the office was a serious matter.

At first Pyrrha thought that perhaps Jaune’s transcripts had been discovered. Jaune had certainly panicked at the thought. And then they had learned that Team RWBY was also being called to the office. First thing in the morning, skipping classes. That Ren and Nora weren’t in the room when Pyrrha had awoken, and that the Hollow Knight wasn’t with Team RWBY…

Pyrrha had a bad feeling.

As the elevator climbed up the tower, everyone remained silent. The aura coming off of Professor Goodwitch could only be described as frigid. No one wanted to talk under her gaze.

The clicks of gears grew louder and louder, until the doors opened and they were ushered into the Headmaster’s office. Professor Goodwitch did not follow them.

Gears clicked under glass floors, past glass walls, and the face of the clock read 7:00. A pendulum swung solemnly over the elevator.

The Headmaster sat at his desk, several mugs around him. He was pouring over various pages of paper. The Hollow Knight stood in front of him, silent as ever. And Nora was rubbing sleep out of her eyes, leaning in a chair with a blanket having been tossed over her.

“Ah, you’re here,” Headmaster Ozpin said, adjusting his glasses. He looked tired, but he stood up straight with purpose, “There’s much to cover in a short amount of time.”

“Headmaster?” Jaune and Weiss asked at once. Weiss shot Jaune a look and her team leader fidgeted a bit.

“You first, Mister Arc,” Headmaster Ozpin said.

“Oh, uh...Where’s Ren, sir?” Jaune asked as Weiss crossed her arms.

“Lie Ren is currently missing. As for where he is,” Headmaster Ozpin turned his gaze to Team RWBY, “Miss Schnee, perhaps you would care to explain about Hallownest?”

Team RWBY looked shocked, Weiss most of all. The Schnee Heiress tried to school her expression, but still seemed hesitant.

“You knew, sir?”

“I had suspicions that something was going on, but I was hoping you’d tell me yourself,” Ozpin said sternly.

“We wanted to get more info before we brought it to you, sir,” Ruby explained, coming to Weiss’s rescue.

The Headmaster stared at them for a moment, before nodding.

“Not at all a bad course of action. In the future, however, you should tell your superiors that that’s what you were intending to do. What’s done is done, however. Tell me everything.”

The story that Team RWBY wove was equal parts unbelievable and strange. With the Hollow Knight staring over them all though, and the Headmaster’s expression, something cold was beginning to settle in Pyrrha’s stomach.

“Could you show us this Dream Nail?” Headmaster Ozpin asked.

Weiss nodded, expression stoic as she held out her hand and formed a glyph that Pyrrha had never seen before. Like a flower encircled by a wheel, glowing a strange pink color. The moment Weiss’s fingers closed around the glyph it blossomed and unfurled into a copy of Weiss’s weapon. Weiss stood like that for a moment, face illuminated by the strange light of the Dream Nail.

“You said that you could enter Hallownest using this, correct?” Ozpin said, looking intently at the Dream Nail. At Weiss’s nod, the Headmaster took a step beside her.

“Show me.”

Weiss didn’t hesitate. She brought the Dream Nail high above her head, the blade turning into a plume of flame as she did, and slashed through the air with a ‘kiai’. A pink cut sat there in thin air, as if the world itself had been cut.

Pyrrha wasn’t sure what happened next. There was a black blur as the Hollow Knight moved in front of Weiss, and Headmaster Ozpin slammed his cane down into the ground, walls of green energy separating them from the cut. A moment later the cut exploded in a flash of blinding white light.

When her sight returned, Pyrrha saw intricate white lines in the air, creating an elaborate pattern. The pattern glowed for a moment more, before fading away.

“What the hell was that?” Yang bit out, sitting up from the ground.

“Language, Miss Xiao Long,” Headmaster Ozpin said mildly, turning to Weiss. Weiss was on the ground, the Hollow Knight arched over her protectively. She seemed dazed, but quickly snapped out of it at the Headmaster’s look.

“That’s never happened before...”

“Have you ever seen anything like that?” Headmaster Ozpin asked the Hollow Knight. The Knight stared at the air where the sigil once stood, before shaking their head.

The Headmaster looked thoughtful. Pyrrha started as Nora stepped next to her. She was still dressed in her pajamas, and there was a cracked scroll in her arms.

“Now what, Headmaster?” Nora asked, unusually straightforward.

“We will have to try in the dormitories hallways,” Ozpin said. His gaze softened for a moment, “We will get him back, Miss Valkyrie, mark my words.”

“Nora?” Pyrrha asked, uncertain. ‘ _Him?’_ They couldn’t mean-?

“Something attacked Ren last night,” Nora said softly. A horrified silence spread across the room. Wordlessly Pyrrha offered Nora a hug and the smaller girl practically leaned into her side.

“W-Well, what are we waiting for?” Jaune asked, his normal shyness buried, “We gotta go find him!”

“Patience, Mister Arc. There’s a reason I called you all here this early. Your classes are canceled for today. Officially, the reason will be a gas leak in the dormitories. Dangerous, but mundane and fixable within the day. Unofficially, Team RWBY and Team JNPR will be sent on a mission,” Headmaster Ozpin gave them all a look, “And as unofficial this mission is, it will be treated as a real one. You will report to your assigned huntsmen just as you would if this were a regular student mission.”

“Assigned huntsmen, sir?” Pyrrha asked. The Headmaster gave a dry smile.

“That would be me. I normally do not take the field anymore, but I promise I won’t slow you down. Professor Goodwitch and James should be able to handle a day without me.”

“As for the creature we are searching for,” Headmaster Ozpin began to walk towards his desk, “We did not get a good look at it. Based on speculation on the part of myself and the Hollow Knight, we believe it might be something from the Deepnest,” the Headmaster glanced down at loose pages, “The Deepnest being a territory of the greater kingdom of Hallownest. Not part of the kingdom, but falling under the domain of the tribe known as the Deeplings.”

“You talked to the Hollow Knight, sir?” Weiss asked.

“Of everyone here, they are the only ones from this Hallownest itself,” Headmaster Ozpin quirked an eyebrow, “You seem surprised.”

“They’re not very talkative, sir,” Ruby chimed in. The Hollow Knight didn’t seem insulted by this, though Pyrrha would admit that she couldn’t ever actually tell what they were thinking.

“No, they are not. Very to the point when answering questions. Before I forget, thank you, Miss Xiao Long, for teaching the Knight our writing.”

“Oh, uh, no problem.”

“As I was saying, the Deepnest was not part of the Kingdom of Hallownest. Apparently because it was filled with all manners of dangerous creatures. That the Deeplings themselves prided their independence was another issue. We do have reason to believe that this creature is from the Deepnest, due to its disguise.”

“Disguise?” Blake asked warily.

“It looked like my mother,” Nora offered softly, still leaning against Pyrrha. Pyrrha simultaneously felt chilled and furious, and the way Yang’s eyes flashed red meant a similar sentiment. But Blake… Blake looked horrified.

“Miss Belladonna?” Headmaster Ozpin asked gently.

“...When Weiss and I were in Hallownest. After fighting Hornet. I swore I saw...a-an old friend of mine, in the shadows,” Blake cleared her throat, “Though, I’m beginning to suspect that it wasn’t him...”

“Most likely not,” Headmaster Ozpin’s eyes narrowed, “This only furthers the hypothesis that this creature, whatever it is, disguises itself as loved ones. No doubt in an effort to disarm prey. The Hollow Knight told me that they’ve never heard of such a creature, but guessed that it might be from the Deepnest. Admittedly only because the Deepnest is a ‘dark place’, but its all we have to work with.”

Headmaster Ozpin paused suddenly, as if listening to the clicks of gears.

“Ah, Professor Goodwitch should’ve evacuated your wing of the dorms by now. You’ll find your lockers on the first floor of the tower. Gear up and head to your dorms at once. We have no time to loose.”

* * *

_In the deepest darkness..._

* * *

Ozpin wasn’t sure what would happen when Miss Schnee used the Dream Nail once more, this time in the dorm halls. He had hoped that it wouldn’t be a repeat of the explosion that had rocked his office, but it would be his luck that something magical stopped working the moment he set his sights on it.

Thankfully, instead of an explosion, the cut in reality expanded with the flow of many of those strange glyphs, and as the world whited out Ozpin felt deep magic settle around him. Deep magic, and old. He hadn’t encountered this sort of magic in ages.

When the world came back into view, the warm halls of Beacon had been replaced by cold gray stone. As Team RWBY had reported, Hallownest seemed to comprise of various caverns. Caverns that were practically pitch black. There were several cracks and hisses and several of his students held up torchsticks. Illuminated by the bright Dust based glowsticks, the cave became even more gray. Bright as the torchsticks were, their green-blue light leeched color from their surroundings.

“So, this is Hallownest?” Mister Arc asked, hesitant. He started as the Hollow Knight moved behind him, looking around their surroundings.

“Do you recognize this place?” Ozpin asked. The Hollow Knight shook their head, still looking down the cavern.

A cavern that lead two ways, neither one more promising than the other. Ozpin had been hoping to avoid this…

“To cover the most ground possible, we’ll have to split up into two groups,” Ozpin said. He thought over the team compositions for a moment.

“Miss Rose, Mister Arc? You’ll be joining myself, along with Miss Nikos and Miss Xiao Long. The other group will consist of Miss Valkyrie, Miss Belladonna, Miss Schnee, and the Hollow Knight.”

Ozpin slid his gaze over his students, and caught Mister Arc’s curious look.

“Yes, Mister Arc?” Ozpin asked, mildly. Mister Arc started, but spoke up. Something that the boy wouldn’t have had the confidence to do when he had first showed up.

“Why those teams, sir?”

“A good question. I’ll make it brief. We are on a search and rescue mission for Lie Ren. Miss Valkyrie, knowing Ren the best of all of us, will take Miss Belladonna and the Hollow Knight to traverse these dark caverns. With Miss Schnee to act as firepower, they will cover the most ground in the search. Ourselves will be taking a slower, defensive team. We will methodically search through the caverns, able to meet any creature we might meet.”

Something they’d have to do. Without the Hollow Knight, they’d be walking mostly blind in the caverns of Hallownest. In both ways, Ozpin thought ruefully. As of now he was jealous of Miss Belladonna and the Knight’s night vision.

“Any other questions?” Ozpin asked. Light though his tone might’ve been, his students stood up straight and gave curt nods. He gave a small smile and made a motion with his hand.

Miss Valkyrie made her way down the path to his right immediately, followed by Miss Belladonna and Miss Schnne in short order. The Hollow Knight stared at them for a moment more before running down the cave. A dark shape seemingly gliding down into the darkness of the cavern.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow and turned to see Mister Arc taping torchsticks to the side of his shield.

“I’ve been in dark caves before, sir,” Arc explained, both hesitant and determined, “You can’t have too much light.”

“Indeed,” Ozpin said, only letting some mirth trickle in the words.

“Alright, let’s move out. Sir?” Miss Rose belatedly asked, having taken leadership automatically.

“Carry on, Miss Rose.”

They walked down the other path of the cavern. Miss Schnee’s reports hadn’t been exaggerated. The caves of Hallownest twisted and turned in various ways that confused the mind and it was a small mercy that they hadn’t found a fork in the ‘road’.

They also hadn’t found much in the way of enemies, something he hadn’t been expecting based on the Hollow Knight and Miss Schnee’s reports.

“This is giving me the creeps...” Mister Arc shuddered.

“Doing alright there, Vomit Boy?” Miss Xiao Long asked, her usual cheer subdued. Mister Arc sent Miss Xiao Long a look before answering.

“I can’t help but feel like something is going to spring out on us at any moment…”

“It’s a bit weird,” Miss Rose agreed, “Usually a vengefly or something would be bothering us.”

“Vengefly?” Miss Nikos asked carefully, rifle in her hands as she scanned the cavern.

“They’re sorta like mosquitoes mixed with ants. They’re like the size of rats and tear their prey apart,” Miss Rose said calmly.

“Ah?” Miss Nikos asked, not pleased with the description.

“Chill, P-Money. They only hunt in small groups and they ain’t that strong,” Miss Xiao Long said easily.

“That’s a relief,” Mister Arc sighed.

Ozpin, who had been listening with one ear, stopped at the same time Miss Rose stopped. For a moment, he had heard a faint buzz…

“Sometimes they get bigger,” Miss Rose said softly. Slowly Ozpin extended his cane. Mister Arc, staring at Miss Rose, paled suddenly and pointed his shield at the ceiling.

A creature matching Miss Rose’s description in all but size, being about the size of a small pony, stared at them with black eyes. With an ear splitting shriek the vengefly detached from the ceiling, wings beating furiously as it launched itself at them.

Miss Nikos shot it several times through the head and Miss Xiao Long lunged forward, delivering a devastating uppercut. Even in it’s death throes the vengefly tried to snap at Yang’s face, earning several more punches before it stayed down.

“Not as durable as the Grimm,” Ozpin noted as Miss Xiao Long shook her hand, now covered in what was presumably vengefly blood, with disgust.

“No, but they don’t die as easily,” Miss Rose said. Ozpin watched as the all but dead vengefly continued to twitch even as it bled out.

“Most creatures of Grimm take on vertebrae forms, if they take animal forms at all,” Ozpin mused, “I suppose with that comes similar weaknesses.”

“Sir?” Mister Arc asked.

“Tear the leg off an ant and it’ll still fight. One can’t say that about most other animals. We will have to exercise caution, the deeper we head into these caves. Who knows what creatures we will encounter, the deeper we go on?”

* * *

_In the deepest darkness..._

* * *

Team RWBY had never gone too deep into Hallownest in their occasional sojourns. Now Blake was thankful for that fact. The path Nora had chosen them quickly became darker and darker than any cave had any right to be. Physically Blake knew this wasn’t possible, but traveling through caves that had never been traversed by humans or faunus had an effect on the mind.

And if Blake was uncomfortable, she couldn’t imagine how Weiss and Nora were handling it, with only a single dim torchlight among them. She didn’t even want to think about Ren, wandering around these caves alone. The only one at ease was the Hollow Knight, who walked through the caves like it was a sunny park.

‘ _Well, not quite,’_ she amended, seeing the sword in the Knight’s hands. Thank gods she had Gambol Shroud with her too. No more fighting without a weapon. Not that it’d be easy to use Gambol Shroud in it’s chain-sickle form, in narrow caves.

“Are you sure we’re on the right path?” Weiss asked Nora. The normally exuberant girl was looking around the cave walls intently, and more concerning, silently. Nora had been terse and all-business the entire time, and while the Blake from several months ago would’ve been happy about that now she wanted the talkative Nora back.

“I’m sure. Call it a hunch, but I’m sure that he went down this way...”

Blake winced at Nora’s hoarse voice, brushing a hand against the stone cavern – wait.

In the gloom of the cave, she could barely make out several gashes in the stone. Not natural, certainly…

“Blake?” she head Weiss ask as she knelt down to the floor, groping for something.

“Huh...” Blake muttered, finding what she was searching for, “What are the chances that bullets are natural to Hallownest?”

Nora was next to Blake in a flash, plucking the bullet from her fingers and staring intently at it.

“This is from Storm Flower...Ren was here!”

“And he was putting up a fight,” Blake noted. Nora gave a fierce grin and not for the first time Blake was intimidated by Nora Valkyrie. Her grins always seemed to involve too many sharp teeth for someone who wasn’t a faunus.

“We better take more ground,” Weiss said, and that was all the excuse Nora needed to bolt further into the cave. Blake cursed under her breath and ran after her, trusting that the Hollow Knight would keep Weiss safe.

Despite almost tripping on her face several times, Nora kept running down the cave, despite Blake’s insistence that she slow down. She only stopped when she ran into a wall.

“Now do you see why you have to be careful?” Blake scolded. Nora rubbed her forehead, wincing, before turning her gaze to the wall. A dead end. Blake was certain she hadn’t seen any other opening, but this didn’t make any sense-

Nora stood up, wobbling a bit. There was a calm look in her eyes, and she unfurled Maginhild before running towards the wall with her warhammer, screaming at the top of her lungs. Blake took several steps back to avoid fragments of stone flying into the air, and she barely heard Weiss swear behind her with the echoes.

“What’s happening?!” Weiss stepped down from where she was being carried by the Hollow Knight.

“There was a dead end! She’s not taking it...well?”

Was it her imagination, or was the wall...collapsing?

With a final scream Nora slammed her hammer into the center of the wall, and it came crumbling down like loose gravel. It hadn’t been a dead end.

When Blake saw what was on the other side, she kinda wished it had been.

The small cavern opened up into a larger cave, about the size of a cathedral. A cave that was filled to the brim with various bugs. The ground was covered in creatures that resembled centipedes but more spiky. There were so many of them that it resembled a thick, writhing carpet. In the gloom of the cavern ceiling, among stalactites Blake saw countless things with too many legs skitter around. And every single creature, seen and unseen, filled the room with an ear grating symphony that involves spine tingling clicking, nails-on-a-chalkboard shrieks, and low soft hissing.

She could _feel_ Weiss take several steps back from the cave, and Blake could feel all her hair stand on end. Even Nora looked pale at the sight on the dark cave. Only the Hollow Knight seemed undisturbed. At least that’s what Blake thought, till she saw the way they were holding their nail.

“What is this place?” Blake whispered.

“It’s the Deepnest,” Weiss took a breath, “Isn’t it?”

The Hollow Knight gave a terse nod. Absently Blake noted that the wall Nora had torn down had been held together by what looked like silk.

“We have to keep moving forward,” Nora said.

Blake and Weiss exchanged glances, before nodding.

There was no way they were leaving Ren in a place like this any longer.

* * *

_In the deepest darkness..._

* * *

“What the hell?”

Ozpin couldn’t bring himself to reprimand Miss Xiao Long’s use of language. Not with where they had found themselves.

‘ _I’ll admit, the last thing I expected to find was a jungle.’_

It was a jungle. A proper jungle, filled with lush green plants, the thick clammy air filled with the fetid smell of decaying flora. The moment they had stepped out of the narrow cave into the larger cavern, Ozpin had regretted wearing his current outfit. Perfectly fine for the cold days of Vale, but absolutely miserable in a jungle.

A jungle, vibrant and alive, growing in a cave. A cave illuminated with light, though from where Ozpin did not know. It wasn’t much light – barely any more than sunset. It was a strange light too, that seemed to exist everywhere, without source. But compared to the darkness of the winding caves, the jungle was a bright day.

“Are we still in Hallownest?” Miss Rose asked, curiously looking around. How the younger girl was handling the heat in her ensemble, Ozpin didn’t know.

“I believe it is,” Ozpin thought back to his conversation with the Knight. He had grilled the Knight about the various locales of the Kingdom of Hallownest, and though the descriptions had been brief they had been to the point.

“This is either Hallownest’s Greenpath, or the Queen’s Gardens.”

“What?” Yang asked.

“The Greenpath, from what I had been told, was a forested area within the territory of Hallownest, and was a popular sight for pilgrims. For something called Unn. Perhaps a religion? And the Queen’s Gardens were a cordoned part of the Greenpath, dedicated solely to the Queen of Hallownest.”

“This place had a Queen?” Yang whistled.

“Well, it _was_ a kingdom,” Ruby pointed out.

“Yeah, yeah. Guess that means there was a king too, huh?” Yang muttered, curiously looking at her surroundings.

“This place gives me gooseflesh,” Ozpin heard Mister Arc mutter. He couldn’t blame the young man. As much of a normal forest this place looked, all it took was a moment to realize it wasn’t. Forests were filled with the buzz of many insects, yes. But they were faint buzzing, and accompanied by birdsong.

This jungle was filled with buzzing calls and shrieks, hisses and whines. Not a single familiar sound. Coupled with the strange magic permeating the air…

‘ _Not necessarily strange. Just unfamiliar.’_

The magic of Hallownest was old, but this jungle had an entirely different feel to it. They’d have to be cautious.

“As long as there aren’t any more vengeflies, I’ll be happy!” Yang said cheerfully.

“Miss Xiao Long, duck!” Ozpin barked out. Yang hesitated for only a moment, before ducking low to the ground. Something buzzed overhead, missing Miss Xiao Long’s neck by a few inches. The blur skimmed across the ground, resolving into a creature that resembled a vengefly. It’s shell had a green tinge to it however, and in place of large jaws it had a proboscis the size of a dagger. The creature buzzed angrily, before launching itself at Mister Arc, who yelped and brought up his shield. The bug hit the shield with a dull thwack and flew away dazed, before being smashed into paste by Miss Rose.

In the distance, Ozpin heard more buzzes, similar to the creature they had killed. Yang let out a groan.

“Shouldn’t have opened my big mouth.”

* * *

_In the deepest darkness..._

* * *

“Shouldn’t have opened my big mouth!” Blake hissed. The strange creature that resembled a pill bug but flatter and with more fangs than anyone sane would be comfortable with didn’t seem to care about Blake’s regrets and fell from the ceiling, lunging for Blake’s neck. Slashing it with Gambol Shroud didn’t cut it in half but did send it flying away from Blake, which was all she cared about at the moment.

She heard Weiss scream behind her and turned just in time to see one of the hell-pill bugs clamp its jaws around Weiss’s ankle. Even with Aura, it clearly hurt, and Aura was probably the only thing that prevented Weiss from loosing her foot.

“Weiss!” Blake screamed, only for another hell-pill bug to burst out of the ground under her feet, hissing. Blake stumbled back and slammed Gambol Shroud into the bug, wincing as her sword sunk into stone.

A bolt of white erupted in the darkness and slammed into the hell-pill bug chomping on Weiss. Several more followed, the Hollow Knight throwing the ethereal daggers with deadly precision.

‘ _First teleportation, now projectiles?’_

Not that Blake was complaining. The ground shuddered as Nora slammed her war hammer into a growing swarm of hell-pill bugs. As the cave shook, Blake felt the smaller tremors under her feet cease and some deep unnamed instinct told her that they were alone for now.

Blake knelt down by Weiss, who was massaging her ankle. The pale skin was raw and red, though thankfully there was no bleeding. Aside from concerns of infection, Blake didn’t want to imagine what the scent of blood would do in a place like this.

The Hollow Knight pulled its nail out of the ground and the corpse it had impaled, looming over Weiss in what Blake was starting to realize was worry.

“Are you okay?” Blake asked.

“I-I’m fine,” Weiss hissed out, “Whatever that thing was had quite the jaws. We need to keep an eye on our aura levels down here.”

“Weiss...” Nora murmured.

Weiss flashed Nora a stern grin, fiercer than what Blake would normally associate with the Schnee Heiress.

“Don’t worry about me, Nora. Any more we dawdle is another moment Ren deals with this place alone. And I for one refuse to let a friend down.”

Nora blinked at the words, before flashing her own fierce grin.

“Right on, Ice Queen!”

“Please don’t call me that. If only I could use my fire dust here...”

“Bad idea,” Blake said, glancing at the silk around them. The walls, the floor, even the ceiling – everything in the Deepnest was covered in the fine threads of silk. In some places they were gossamer curtains as light as air. In other places, Blake dared not tread on the ground for fear of loosing her shoes.

They hadn’t yet met whatever created these threads, but Blake knew that they wouldn’t avoid them for much longer.

“This place is a maze,” Blake changed the subject, “How are we going to find Ren?”

“He’ll have left some sign behind,” Nora insisted.

“He would’ve been trained in it, after all,” Weiss agreed.

Blake didn’t want to dampen the mood by pointing out that finding any sign, deliberate or not, would be difficult. Instead she kept her eyes and ears open. For enemies as well as Ren.

Perhaps that was why she saw Adam, lurking in the shadows just out reach. He was exactly as she remembered him, the day she had left him. The sight of him, staring at her sent her heart fluttering – and not in a good way.

The knowledge that this was some monster disguised as Adam and not actually him was somehow reassuring, which told Blake more than she could ever put into words about her own feelings.

“Guys...” Blake whispered, still staring at the monster.

“Wait, is that-?” Weiss began.

The monster melted into the shadows. Not ran, and Blake had a hunch-

“That’s the thing that took Ren!” Nora growled, about to bolt.

“Wait!”

“What!” Nora snapped.

“If we all run after it, it’ll just hunker down somewhere in this gods-forsaken place.”

“Blake?” Weiss began carefully.

“It’s hunting me. If I pretend to follow it alone-”

“You are _not_ going to go after that thing by yourself!” Weiss hissed.

“I don’t plan to. You guys need to follow me at a distance. Until we manage to corner this thing.”

“Blake, this is-”

“Dangerous, I know! But its our best chance at finding Ren!”

Blake glared at them, daring them to argue. Weiss looked like she had swallowed a lemon and Nora looked torn between charging at the monster herself and letting Blake go. The Hollow Knight, whose expression never changed, stared at Blake with their head tilted, as if questioning her.

“You know I’m right,” Blake told Weiss.

“...You better stay safe,” Weiss ground out.

“Don’t worry,” Blake breathed, heart still racing, “I have a dance I don’t intend to miss.”

* * *

_In the deepest darkness..._

* * *

The Greenpath was super different from the Emerald Forest. For a forest filled with the Creatures of Grimm, Beacon’s Emerald Forest hadn’t been the grand adventure Ruby had imagined them to be when she played around in Patch’s woods as a child. The Emerald Forest was just like any other forest, really. Forever Fall was neat though.

But Greenpath? Greenpath was, as that Gavino guy from Yang’s favorite band would say, wicked.

Dense flora that on closer inspection didn’t at all resemble any plants Ruby was familiar with. Humid fetid air that carried with it scents unrecognizable. The constant cacophony of buzzes and shrieks that replaced the bird song of Remnant’s forests.

And then there were the less subtle things, like the lakes of acid. They had managed to fight of a swarm of those ‘forest vengeflies’ and found a worn stone path that looked out of place in the jungle. Walking down the path, Ruby couldn’t help but feel strangely small. The stone she walked on was smooth and featureless, as if worn down by millions of footsteps. Headmaster Ozpin had called this place a pilgrimage, right?

Walking down the stone path was peaceful. The jungle seemed far away while they were on the path. Several times Ruby saw shapes moving in the bushes and trees, and she felt gazes on her and everyone else, but nothing attacked them.

“I do believe as long as we are on the path, nothing will harm us,” Professor Ozpin had said, gently pushing Pyrrha’s gun to the ground when she had pointed it at a large rustling noise.

Yang muttered about ‘death-mosquitoes’ as she walked past, and almost stumbled straight into a part of the path that had decayed. As it was, her sister managed to back away quickly as stone and ground crumbled and splashed into what looked like boiling water. Ruby first assumed that the yellow-green tinge was because of the jungle flora but soon changed her mind as the sizzling hit her ears and she watched dirt dissolve like sugar into tea until nothing remained.

“Is that acid?” Jaune asked, disbelief etched on his face.

“Whatever it might be, it certainly isn’t safe. Keep an eye out and watch your step,” Headmaster Ozpin cautioned, looking down at the sinkhole with a thoughtful expression.

“What kind of jungle has acid?!” Yang almost whined, before sighing. Ruby frowned. Her normally gung-ho sister didn’t seem excited, which was strange. Usually it was Yang who got all giddy when visiting new places – especially if it involved roughing it out or camping.

So as they carefully walked down the stone path, now a stone bridge over a large lake of steaming acid, Ruby sidled up to her sister.

“You okay?”

Yang glanced at her, expressions warring across her face before settling on tired.

“I’m worried about Blake. And Weiss, and Ren-!”

“But mostly Blake?” Ruby asked.

Yang sighed, and gave Ruby a slightly guilty look.

“Is it that obvious?”

Ruby gave her a silent shrug.

“Blake’s a big girl. She can take care of herself.”

“I know, I know. But she doesn’t have to,” Yang said, firmly.

Ruby hadn’t known exactly how Yang had broke Blake out of her funk. And she was really, really curious, but it had clearly been something personal and-

Not for the first time, Ruby was at a loss to figure out how to cheer up her sister.

“Hey, she’s not alone. She’s got Weiss and Nora. And the Hollow Knight! She’ll be fine!” Ruby tried, mimicking the weapons her friends used. She managed to get a little smile out of Yang.

“Besides, look at where we are! A mysterious land, untouched by people! Who knows what we’ll find!” Ruby said, putting a hand on her sister’s shoulder and drawing a rainbow with her other hand.

At that exact moment, from the underbrush came a large rustling. And a tree walked onto the path. At least it looked like a tree at first. As the group stopped walking, the ‘tree’ shook itself, moss falling and revealing a bug. A bug about as tall as Yang, garbed in green armor (or was it just a shell?) with a beard of lichen that reached to it’s belly. Two antennae covered in fuzzy lichen twitched in the air as the bug stared at them. In one hand it held one of those strange swords bugs used. In the other was a large shield.

The green knight stared at them. Everyone but Ruby and Headmaster Ozpin were pointing their weapons at it. Aware of the tension in the air, Ruby resisted the urge to take out her scythe and waved at the knight.

“Hello!” she chirped.

“Rubes,” Yang began, only for the knight to tilt its head.

“...Pilgrims?” the knight asked in a raspy voice, like leaves in the wind.

“Uh...” Jaune began.

“Yes,” Ozpin said, stepping forward. The mossy knight stared at them for a moment longer, before nodding.

“Careful...Danger, up ahead…Darkness...Nightmares...” the mossy knight rasped. Ruby felt Yang tense up next to her, and saw Jaune and Pyrrha exchange looks. The Headmaster seemed undisturbed by the news.

“We will be careful, thank you,” he said with a nod.

“May Unn be with you, blessing your journey always...” the mossy knight nodded, before walking back into the undergrowth.

“I suppose my theory of Unn was close to the mark,” the Headmaster said in the ensuing silence, “If Bartholomew were here he’d explode, I’m sure.”

“Headmaster?” Ruby piped up.

“Yes, Miss Rose?”

“We’re going forward, aren’t we?” she asked, not with any trepidation. Indeed, there might’ve been a hint of excitement in her voice.

“Indeed we are,” the Headmaster smirked. In a flash it was replaced by a stoic expression.

“On your guards, now.”

“Jaune, you take front. Yang, you stay behind him, and Pyrrha, watch our back,” Ruby ordered, before forgetting that she wasn’t Jaune or Pyrrha’s leader.

“I mean, uh-” she began, blushing.

“I suppose we’re team RJPY for now, huh?” Jaune chuckled, offering her a nervous smile, “Wonder what that would spell?”

“Rain.”

Headmaster Ozpin walked past them after this proclamation, while Jaune began muttering and counting with his fingers.

“That doesn’t-”

“Ohhh, I get it!” Ruby chirped, “ _R_ uby Rose, Jaune _A_ rc, _Y_ ang Xiao Long, and Pyrrha _N_ ikos!”

Jaune looked back at his hand, counting fingers.

“Ohh! Why didn’t I think of that?”

* * *

_In the deepest darkness..._

* * *

“Adam, wai-!”

Blake trying to ‘desperately call for Adam’ was interrupted by another one of the centipedes. Centipedes, a bug Blake hadn’t ever been a fan of, were no more appealing when they were as long as a train, as large as a car, with mandibles and claws like swords and exoskeletons like tank armor.

Blake had to stop to a halt as the centipede roared past, carving through the walls of the Deepnest like it was butter. Covering her face as fragments of stone pelted her, she saw ‘Adam’ stare at her before melting further into the shadows. Blake resisted cursing. This entire operation hinged on Blake acting like the perfect little victim to find this monster’s lair.

The only bright side to this was that all the monster wanted to do was eat her, and that was barely a bright side.

As soon as the centipede disappeared down the newly created tunnel, Blake leapt towards where she had last seen the monster. As she ran down increasingly winding tunnels, she saw more and more glimpses of ‘Adam’. And the tunnels became smaller and smaller, with more and more spider silk hanging around. She was getting close, and she shouldn’t have been surprised when she tripped over the first body.

It was the dry husk of a bug. It looked like one of the ghosts they had seen in the City of Tears, and despite not at all looking human, Blake couldn’t help but crawl backwards when she saw the empty black eyes starring at nothing.

Her heart was beating a mile a minute, and further down the tunnel she could see more lumps wrapped up in web. And the background noise of the Deepnest, so unearthly and uncanny, was now silent and that was _so much worse-_

Blake took a deep breath, and then another. She remembered a train in a red forest. And she stood up, Gambol Shroud in hand, and walked down into the spider’s web.

* * *

_In the deepest darkness..._

* * *

“Whoa…” Ruby marveled at the stone temple they had found at the end of the path. Covered in moss and strange carvings and built into the growth and walls of the Greenpath, it was quite the sight.

“Sorta reminds you of one of Dad’s old movies with that archaeology dude, huh?” Yang said, marveling at the structure.

“It looks kinda creepy...” Jaune said, looking at the temple as if it would unleash a giant scorpion. Which, considering where they were…

As Ruby put a hand on her waist, ready to whip out her scythe at any sign of stinger tails, Pyrrha gave Jaune a reassuring smile before turning to Headmaster Ozpin.

“Perhaps this is a temple to Unn?” she suggested.

The Headmaster stared at the temple, his expression betraying no thoughts.

“Headmaster?” Ruby asked.

“Be on your guard, students. Something is wrong here,” the Headmaster warned, narrowing his eyes, before walking towards the entrance of the temple. Team RAYN gave each other looks, before readying their weapons. Yang cocked her gauntlets, walking in after the Headmaster, and Pyrrha followed her with spear and shield in hand. Jaune was muttering under his breath but trudged in after his partner. As Ruby followed him, one of the temple statues caught her eye. It looked like a bug’s head, with long locks of hair. It’s eyes though, were stained black as if by ink. Ruby thought back to the warning the Green Knight had given them, before taking out her special bullets.

As she walked through the archway into the dark interior of the temple, Ruby swore she heard humming.

* * *

_In the deepest darkness...Strip it out!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally not going to end there, but it was getting so long I decided to split it. I wonder how many will guess correctly who our teams are about to meet?
> 
> Greenpath and Deepnest are such wonderfully alien areas, and part of the fun of this crossover is making the characters of RWBY walk through these environments. My own headcannon for the Greenpath is that there is not a grass or tree in sight - it's all fungi, ferns, lichens, mosses, and other such plants. Remember, grass only showed up on this Earth during the Cretaceous period - for a long time of Earth's history, it didn't exist, and I love making settings predicated on that fact. 
> 
> Speaking of the Greenpath, without the infection, it's a really peaceful place! Provided, you stay on the path.
> 
> Unofrutnatly, since the character's of RWBY haven't met the Hunter, they don't have access to the names of the various foes of Hallownest. Thus, Garpedes are centipedes and Dirtcarvers are murder pillbugs. For now. 
> 
> And on the RWBY side of things, how are we feeling about the new designs? If Jaune's design is bumming you out, may I direct you to the DC comics and the amazing spectacle that is Young Blake?
> 
> Will Blake survive her descent into the Deepnest in search for Ren? What darkness lies in the Greenpath? Will our heroes endure?
> 
> Tune in next time to find out!


	7. The Nightmare Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hallownest's nightmares rear their head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and Hollow Knight do not belong to me. They belong to RoosterTeeth and Team Cherry respectively.
> 
> Finally done with finals and now that its the Hogswatch season we have some free time. So onto the show!

**Chapter 7: The Nightmare, Part II**

_1, 2, they’re coming for you…_

Blake found more bodies as she walked further into the tunnel. It was a small mercy that none of them were human. But it took all her will to force herself to walk further and further, as the piles of bodies grew bigger and bigger. Cause if she stopped, if she broke down now, then the best case scenario was that the monster would run away. And the worst case-

Blake shut that thought down, hard, and kept walking.

She reached the end of the tunnel, and it lead into a horror show.

It was a massive chamber, whose ceiling was lost in the darkness. Plenty of stalactites were in view though, and from each stalactite at _least_ one body hung from a rope of string. There were bodies of all shapes and sizes. Many of them resembling the bugs of City of Tears. Some of them were the very bugs she had seen in the shadows of the Deepnest. And even more were bug she’d never seen before. All dangling from the ceiling, swaying in a nonexistent breeze like demented windchimes.

As Blake stared up in horror, something scuffed against stone, breaking the suffocating silence of the chamber. Flinching away from the gruesome décor, she came face to face with Adam. Exactly how she remembered him, standing in the center of the room. Time seemed to slow, and Adam reached a hand out towards her.

“Blake...” he whispered, with a smile on his face.

The bark of a bullet ripped across the chamber and Adam jerked back. The scream that had been bubbling up in Blake’s throat finally released – a guttural sound that no one would’ve thought capable from her, Blake including. She fired bullet after bullet into the monster, continuing to scream as the monster flinched back.

“Give! Ren! Back!” Blake screamed, firing the last of her clip. She gasped for a moment, heart racing – and then sinking.

Adam - the monster – was not laid out on the ground, dead. It still stood, and when it stood up straight and faced Blake once more, its face was pockmarked with black bullet wounds. And yet, it still did not bleed.

Blake panted, stomach turning and the hair on the back of her neck standing on end.

The monster stared at her for a moment, before its head twisted upside down with several cracks and pops. It’s mouth broke up with a snap and its screamed – a sound that was like nails scratching against her bones, sending Blake to her knees in pain. As it screamed, it contorted further and further. Arms snapping like twigs and twisting like rubber. Legs dangled uselessly as its spine turned ninety degrees, and the body rose as something exploded from the stone. A long neck that resembled a tree branch, followed by a bulbous translucent body, encased in black chitin shaped like a rib-cage and a spine with spikes the size of swords. Several pairs of long spindly legs burst from the ground, gouging into the floor and hoisting the body up.

The monster reared back like a horse, screeching and rushing towards a still paralyzed Blake, legs moving madly. Just as it was upon her, Adam’s contorted face inches from her own, the Hollow Knight appeared in a burst of darkness and slammed into the creature.

Blake almost wept with relief, especially as Nora rushed past her with a roar and Weiss skidded next to Blake, searching her teammate for injuries.

“Blake! Blake, are you alright?” Weiss asked.

“I-I’m fine,” Blake managed.

Another screech rattled the chamber and Blake and Weiss whipped towards the center of the chamber.

The monster reared back as the Hollow Knight slashed at it. If the gruesome visage of the monster affected them, they didn’t show it. Neither did they flinch back as the monster screeched once more, though the Knight did back away as the monster tried to slam its legs onto them. The monster screeched at the Knight clearly enraged – a screech that was drowned in volume by Nora. Like her namesake, she fell from the heavens hammer in hand and a vicious, vengeful expression gracing her face.

The monster was nimbler than Blake had expected, avoiding Nora’s stone shattering blow by scant seconds. It shrieked and began to scuttle away, evidently not liking its odds.

“We can’t let it escape!” Weiss yelled, rotating Myrtenaster’s cylinder, “Don’t let it leave!”

“Give me back Ren!” Nora screamed, running after the monster. She’d wouldn’t catch up to it, Blake realized with a start. Nora was many things but she wasn’t as fast as the monster-

As Blake got up to her feet, Gambol Shroud’s ribbon in hand, the Knight materialized in a flash of darkness in front of the monster. For a brief moment, Blake wondered if the monster would hesitate and if Nora would get the clean hit that’d end it all. This creature didn’t have even the same amount of armor an Ursa di-

The monster gave a blood curdling screech and slammed into Knight, shoving it towards the ground and trampling it.

“Hollow Knight!” Weiss screamed. Blake threw Gambol Shroud towards the creature’s belly the same time Nora was upon the it, her eyes sparking in the gloom.

The monster leapt into the dark above. With one giant bound the monster landed on the cave walls, high above them, before rushing towards the shadows of the distant cave ceiling.

“Dammit!” Nora screamed, slamming her hammer into the wall before falling to the ground. As Nora began to punch the ground, Blake and Weiss glanced at each other and made to walk towards Nora. To comfort her or to come up with another plan, Blake wasn’t sure. They were halfway through the chamber when they heard the twin shrieks from above. As Blake and Weiss whirled around, weapons in hand, they saw the monster wearing Adam’s face slam in the ground behind them. And from the dark ceiling, another monster – this one with wings – flew overhead wearing Ren’s face.

* * *

_1, 2, they’re coming for you…_

* * *

The inside of the temple was dark, and huge. After the bright Greenpath Yang had forgotten how dark Hallownest really was, but this temple seemed even darker than the winding stone tunnels that seemed to make up a majority of this Kingdom. The lights of the torchsticks barely seemed to illuminate the room. What little they did illuminate was a strange architecture. Tall walls that would’ve been difficult to climb for your normal person, statues and symbols of inhuman things. At one point they had walked into a room that had a floor practically covered in sharp thorns the size of her head. The temple itself was bigger than it had appeared from the outside – so big that amid the thorn patches were bushes and trees, and countless far away rooms. It felt like a cathedral, though not any sort that Remnant had.

“What wackos built this place?” Yang asked, helping Jaune over a large break in the thorn free path.

“Without more knowledge, we cannot ascertain why the people of Hallownest made such a place,” Ozpin said. The Headmaster was clearly distracted, looking around the temple as if searching for something. Yang followed his gaze and caught sight of another one of those strange long haired busts with the inky eyes. Almost involuntarily she shivered and rubbed her arms.

“Are you alright?” Pyrrha asked her.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s colder in here than it was out in the jungle,” Yang said.

“Didn’t you once say you never got cold?” Jaune asked innocently. Yang sighed.

“Yes. Yes I did,” she continued in a hushed whisper, “Look, I’m just getting goosebumps from this place, okay? It’s creeping me out!”

“I know what you mean,” Pyrrha said, “There’s something eerie about the air.”

“Ruby seems to be doing alright,” Jaune pointed out. The three of them glanced at their youngest member. Ruby was standing next to Headmaster Ozpin, humming some tune that Yang wasn’t familiar with.

“She’s always loved spooky stuff like this,” Yang divulged. A fond smile flew across her face, “Her birthday is the Harvest’s End.”

“That...explains a lot,” Pyrrha said at last.

“Doesn’t it?”

“One of my younger sisters was born on the Spring Welcoming, and she’s practically the embodiment of spring,” Jaune confided.

“Must be something about the holida-”

A moan echoed through the temple. As the last echoes of the eerie cry faded away, Yang and Jaune let go of Pyrrha, who schooled her similarly rattled expression.

“What was _that?”_ Yang said, furiously ignoring her racing heart.

“It sounds like someone’s hurt,” Ruby said.

“Careful Miss Rose, we don’t know what truly made that noise,” Headmaster Ozpin cautioned.

“We’re going towards it?” Jaune asked, voice breaking towards the end.

“Of course we are...” Yang grumbled, readying Ember Celica.

“Headmaster?” Pyrrha asked.

“It could be someone in need of help,” the Headmaster said.

“It could also be some sort of monster!” Jaune pointed out, waving his hands wildly.

“That it could. Be on your guard.”

The moan had come from a room high above them. There were no stairs to reach it, so they had to climb to the entrance. As Yang did she noticed countless indents in the stone, as if many others before her had also climbed the wall. Maybe it was a bug thing.

The room was a mirror of the first one, but with far more thorns – coating the floor and the walls. Only scant few stone platforms at various elevations were free from the lethal looking thorns. And on the lowest platform, in front of a large version the busts from before, was a bug.

Ruby had been right. Someone had been hurt. But as they hurried their way towards the bug and came close enough to see them, Yang wished she had covered Ruby’s eyes before hand.

It was the bug from the busts. About as tall as Ruby, and resembling a beetle dressed in armor. Their long ‘hair’ spilled across the dais and pooling around their head. They had been laid on their back, and warning signs should’ve been blaring in Yang’s head the moment she saw them.

The bug was staring sightless at the ceiling of the temple, not because they were blind, but because they’re eyes had been gouged out. Dark fluid continued to seep from the ruined eye cavities, and the bug’s hands were wet with blood.

As they stared on in horror, the bug moaned again. Before speaking, in shuddering sobbing rasps.

“Who’s there…?”

Headmaster Ozpin acted immediately, Ruby quick on his heels. The Headmaster knelt next to the bug, while Ruby fumbled for a water bottle and her first aid kit.

“Easy there,” Headmaster Ozpin spoke in hushed, gentle tones, “You’re okay. We’re here to help.”

Rather than calming the bug down, the Headmaster’s words seemed to agitate them.

“No...No…! You...You can still see, can’t you…!”

“Please don’t move too much,” Ruby urged, a bottle of salve in her hands.

“My child...You can still see...Please don’t hurt me...”

“Hurt you?” Jaune asked weakly.

“Can’t sleep...with your eyes open...” the bug gasped, “The sickness...It travels through dreams…! Can’t dream...if you’re breathing, little one…!”

“What the hell is she talking about? Ruby, don’t go anywhere near that thing,” Yang cautioned. Ruby shot her a look and the bug gave a gurgling cough.

“Precious children...you speak such loathsome things as you sleep...”

As if from far away she heard faint whispers.

“Precious children, a monster had come for us in the dark...will you sing for me…?” the bug rasped.

Ruby unscrewed the slave bottle as Headmaster Ozpin reached for the bug’s hand. The bug moved so fast they blurred, grabbing Ruby’s hand with a wet vice grip.

“Ahh-!”

“Ruby!”

“The light! The light! They’re coming! What’s inside of you, your luminous eyes! Strip it out!”

The bug lunged for Ruby’s eyes, and made a satisfying sound as Yang shoved them off of her little sister. Jaune and Pyrrah stepped in front of them as Yang checked over her sister, and Headmaster Ozpin gave the no-eyed bug a look.

“Are you okay Rubes?”

“I-I’m fine, Yang-”

The bug, who had been laying face down on the stone floor, stood up unsteadily. And began to sing. A soft lullaby, in a language Yang couldn’t understand. As she sang, the whispers in the shadows grew cacophonous. And a hundred ghosts poured out from every shadow and washed over them.

* * *

_1, 2, they’re coming for you…_

* * *

Nora froze as the monster wearing Ren’s face swooped towards her. She narrowly avoided being skewered by the flying monster by the Hollow Knight, who had pushed her away, getting crushed into the ground by the winged monster.

“Hollow Knight!” Blake and Weiss cried out. From the ceiling above was another bone chilling shriek, and they looked up to see the first monster falling towards them.

Both of them dived to the side as the monster slammed into the ground, screeching again before trampling the ground trying to catch them under its feet. Blake climbed to her feet, shifting Gambol Shroud to its sword form with a curse.

The monster turned towards her, Adam’s dead face staring at her, before shrieking and charging at her. Blake had little time to react and jumped into the air, bouncing off of a shadow clone. Sailing over the monster’s back, she threw Gambol Shroud towards a gap in the monster’s exoskeleton.

Gambol Shroud bounced off the exoskeleton and as the monster turned around it’s ribbon tangled in it’s spines. Blake landed awkwardly as Gambol Shroud was ripped from her hands, and she slid across the stone floor for a moment. She had no time to rest as the winged monster lunged towards her, wings beating furiously.

The winged monster gave an ear piercing shriek as an icicle punched through it’s wing and seconds later Weiss had jumped in front of her, Myrtenaster at the ready and a snarl on her face. The monster shrieked once more, causing Blake to flinch, before taking to the air, buffeting them with strong winds.

“Aim for their underbelly!” Weiss cried out.

“And get trampled by those legs?” Blake snapped, watching as the first monster eyed them. Her weapon dangled from one of it’s spikes tantalizingly and Blake muttered a few choice words under her breath.

“What did you say?” Weiss asked.

“Nothi-”

Both monster’s shrieked and charged at once – the first monster stampeding towards them and the second diving. Blake grabbed Weiss and whirled around to face the first monster, Weiss creating a wave of fire from her sword as she did so. Both monster’s flinched back, the first taking a sharp turn away.

However, either the winged monster didn’t care or couldn’t stop. The next thing Blake knew, she was on the ground and her head hurt something fierce. She heard shrieking and Weiss shouting, her vision swimming so bad she couldn’t see.

“...ke…Bla...Blake...Blake!”

When her vision stopped swimming, Weiss was hovering over her.

“Weiss?”

“You idiot!” Weiss scolded, relief breaking out across her face. Blake shot up, fighting down nausea. Weiss was cradling on of her arms and wincing occasionally, and next to them Nora was just sitting with a lost look on her face, cradling a green pistol that Blake realized was one half of Ren’s weapon Storm Flower. And standing in front of them was the Hollow Knight, standing tall with sword at the ready despite the large wound in their side seeping black blood.

The Hollow Knight stood between them and the monsters. The first monster was scratched and burned but seemed none worse for the wear. The second monster had multiple holes in its wings and seemed to be grounded. Both monsters were on either side of the Hollow Knight, trying to circle it. The Hollow Knight stared them down, blade thrumming with their aura ever so occasionally.

“We have to do something...” Blake hissed.

“Blake, your aura is really low-” Weiss began.

“I can’t just stand here!”

“Ren...” Nora mumbled. Weiss knelt down next to the girl.

“Nora, snap out of it! That’s not Ren! The real Ren is still out there!” Weiss said, shaking Nora’s shoulders with one arm. Nora blinked and her eyes focused forwards, flinching.

“Watch out!”

Blake and Weiss turned just in time to see the monster’s lunge towards the Hollow Knight, screeching. The Hollow Knight braced itself, noticeably wobbling, and Blake knew that it couldn’t handle both monster’s at once. Weiss shot forward, Myrtenaster flashing blue and she wouldn’t make it in time-

Something flew through the air and slammed into the winged monster, shearing through its wing. The winged monster screamed in pain and another silver missile flew through that air, barely missing the first monster. Blake blinked numbly at the sight of the lances pincushioned in the ground, breaking out of her stupor as Nora grabbed her arm and leaned forward.

“Ren!”

Blake followed Nora’s gaze. There, at the other end of the room was Ren – covered in scratches and bandages, but otherwise fine. And standing on either side of Ren were two praying mantises the size of the Hollow Knight. Much like the Hollow Knight, while vaguely human, they were clearly mantises. It was also clear in the way they stood that they were warriors.

“Nora!” Ren called out. The winged monster shrieked from it’s spot on the ground, and the mantises _moved._

Blake was no stranger to speed. Living with Ruby Rose acclimated you quickly. But these mantises were so much faster. One moment they were standing still, and then in a second they disappeared before reappearing next to the winged monster. They had ripped their lances out of the ground, and in a second plunged them into the winged monster’s belly. The winged monster let out a chilling cry, flailing and thrashing as the mantises pierced it deeper. The first monster shrieked and charged at the mantises, only to flinch back as Ren ran towards it, the other half of Storm Flower barking in his hand. In that one moment, a third mantis appeared in a flash above the monster and slammed into it, the lance punching through exoskeleton and soft flesh and into the stone floor below.

The mantis looked up at them as the monster struggled under them and spoke.

“Will you just stand there, like children or fools?” the mantis hissed. The harsh words galvanized Blake, who ran forward

“Blake!” Weiss called out.

Blake didn’t heed the call, running straight towards Gambol Shroud, still embedded into the monster’s spine. The monster thrashed and Blake let a shadow clone take a hit as she reached for Gambol Shroud’s hilt, wrenching it out of the monster. A leg spiked towards her and Blake cut it apart just as the mantis disappeared. As the monster struggled to stand up, Blake heard the click of Myrtenaster and wisely jumped away.

The monster wearing Adam’s face was engulfed in flames and as it shrieked and struggled Weiss stepped up next to her.

“You okay?”

“...Yeah,” Blake lied, watching the monster crumble to ash, “I-I’m fine.”

An earth-shattering boom filled the room and Blake and Weiss whirled around, weapons ready. What they saw was Nora standing over the smear that used to be the winged monster, a satisfied glare on her face.

“Nora!”

Nora’s attention snapped towards her partner, who was running towards them.

“Ren!” she cried out, leaping off of the corpse and towards Ren. What normally might’ve been Ren catching Nora turned into both of them falling to the ground, hugging each other fiercely.

“Ren, Ren...” Nora said hoarsely.

“I’m o-okay Nora, I’m okay...”

Blake was startled from the sight as the Hollow Knight stood next to her. Their one good arm covered their wound, which while no longer was bleeding still obviously needed attention.

“Hollo-” Weiss began, reaching for them.

In a flash, the three mantises appeared around them. Each held their lances at attention, and each stared down at them with dark eyes. Blake felt a chill down her spine and gripped Gambol Shroud tighter.

“Creature of Hallownest’s King,” the mantises said in harmony. Their voices were a deep contralto, with no warmth. Ren disentangled himself from Nora, succeeding in freeing everything but his arm, and bowed to the mantises.

“Mantis Lords, tha-”

“Long has it been since one from that Pale Court hath appeared before us,” one of the Mantis Lords said.

“That one of that Pale Court survived the decline of Hallownest is most surprising,” another said acidly.

“Of course, that Hallownest’s Hollow Knight survived is both most surprising and not at all,” the last Mantis Lord sniffed.

If the Hollow Knight noticed the thinly veiled barbs, they didn’t react. Weiss certainly had, the way she was frowning. Ren tried stepping in front of Weiss as she stepped forward and failed.

“And who might you be?” Weiss asked, icily cordial. Blake watched warily as the three Mantis Lords regarded her.

“We are the Lords of the Mantis Tribe, oh strange Pale one,” one of them said stiffly. Another Lord bent down, causing Weiss to flinch back. Even bent down, the Lord still standing a head taller than Weiss.

“Dost this one even know of the Mantis Tribes? Nay, dost this one even knoweth of the Kingdom she has allied with?”

“This one thinks not. She is not of Hallownest, nor is she from kingdoms faraway,” the third Mantis Lord said, “This one thinks that the Pale one might be the sorceress that trapped us in this ghastly mockery.”

“Excuse me-?” Blake said, stepping next to her teammate.

“If not the cause, then surely she must be ally with whatever dark forces are at play here,” one of the Lord’s hissed.

“Now listen here-” Blake began,

“Blake, please, don’t-” Ren pleaded.

“-Weiss has done absolutely nothing wron-”

A gust of wind blew against Blake’s face. At least, that’s what Blake thought, until the two halves of her ribbon fluttered down to the ground.

Blake brought her hands to her faunus ears, making sure nothing had happened to them. As she did Weiss stepped in front of her, a furious scowl on her face. Before a full fledged ‘I-Am-Heir-Of-The-Schnee-Dust-Company-And-You-Will-Listen-To-Me’ lecture could begin, the Mantis Lords as one pointed their lances at them.

“Do not speak to us about falsehoods, deceptive shadowed one! Ye are either foolish or brave to claim that your Pale friend has nothing to do with this sorcery! I do not tolerate either!” one Lord snapped.

“We can see it on her, that light!” another hissed.

Without making a sound yet still drawing everyone’s attention, the Hollow Knight stepped next to Weiss, hand on it’s sword. The Mantis Lord’s lances inched closer.

“So, the Kingdom’s last Knight wisheth to fight us?”

“Protecting the ‘honour’ of ye new master, oh Hollow Knight?”

“The memory of our last clash still rings clear. Tell me, Knight of Hallownest, with thy injury dost you believe you shall fair well once more?”

“Wait, please!”

Ren stepped in front of Weiss, Nora at his side. She was glancing between Ren, Weiss, the Hollow Knight, and the Mantis Lords with a worried expression. Ren was staring up at the Mantis Lords, meeting their gaze without flinching.

“I do not know what might cause you to believe so, but Weiss Schnee and her allies are my friends. She did not do this.”

“Willst thou stake thy honour on such a statement?” one of the Mantis Lords asked, cold.

Ren pointed Storm Flower at the Mantis Lord, eyes narrowing.

“I am.”

“And I am too!” Nora shouted, slamming Magnhild into the ground. Blake happily noted that one of the Mantis Lords glanced at the war hammer with an expression that wasn’t cold stoicism, though she’d be hard pressed to identify it.

The Mantis Lord that had asked Ren the question stared at him for a moment longer, before huffing.

“I can see in thy eyes that thou intends to fight us should we fight, despite thy injuries.”

Ren nodded and the Mantis Lord stood up straight, pointing her lance upwards.

“The Pale one called Weiss Schnee is most lucky, to have such an honourable friend.”

“You would do well not to place your trust wantonly, Lie Ren,” warned another Mantis Lord said, pulling her lance away.

“And so we part ways, warrior of Beacon,” the third Mantis Lord pointed her lance to the ground, “I wonder how you will fight the next time we meet, Lie Ren.”

“Until next our paths cross,” the Mantis Lords said as one, bowing low. The next instant, they were at the other end of the cavern. And the instant after that they were gone.

Ren remained standing for a moment more, before hunching forward with heavy breaths. To Blake’s alarm she saw the bandages around his midsection grow darker.

“Ren!”

“I’m fine...,” he told Nora.

Clearly no one was convinced.

“We need to get back to Beacon,” Weiss said, glancing between the Hollow Knight and Ren.

“We have to rendezvous with the others,” Blake said, realizing with a sinking stomach that they’d have to get through the Deepnest once more. Judging by Weiss’s expression she had realized it too. Before either of them could make a move or say anything, the Hollow Knight’s face snapped up to the ceiling, their sword in hand.

Blake followed their gaze in time to see a cloud of blood red flames. The cloud curled in on itself and as they watched, it slammed into the ground. Embers flew into the air around them, like the petals of Forever Fall Forest, and when they cleared-

“Professor Ozpin? Jaune, Pyrrha?”

“Yang! Ruby!”

Blake reached her partner just as the taller girl crumpled on herself. She managed to catch her partner before Yang hit the ground. Yang’s skin was hot to the touch, more so than usual. Next to her Weiss was shaking an unconscious Ruby. Nora was helping Ren walk towards them, both of them heading towards their own teammates. 

“Ruby? Ruby, wake up!”

“Miss Schnee, we need to leave.”

Headmaster Ozpin was the only one still awake and even he looked worse for the wear. There were dark circles under his eyes and he was holding his cane with a white knuckled grip. Even still his voice was nothing but even and gentle.

Weiss stared up at the Headmaster for a moment, before nodding and summoning the Dream Nail.

As they vanished in a flash of white light, Blake swore she heard the crackle of flames.

* * *

_1, 2, they’re coming for you…_

* * *

“ _So, what will be your choice?” the bug named Grimm asked her, red eyes glowing._

_Yang stared up at the bug, before looking down at her own body. There were no words to describe the feeling of staring into your own vacant eyes. And Yang couldn’t even bring herself to turn her head to see her baby sister, sprawled out next to Yang on the stone floor of the forsaken temple. Cause if she did, Yang would be forced to see Ruby’s eyes, wide open and dull and grey-_

_A hand on her shoulder stopped Yang from panicking. It was not the most reassuring of hands, seeing as instead of flesh it was hard chitin. But it was there, and it was real._

“ _There is still time to save them,” Grimm rasped, “Join the dance, and let the flames take you.”_

_Yang knew that there would be a cost. She remembered her moth- Summer, reading bedtime stories to her. Not all of them had been hunky dory sugary sweet. There would be a price in joining Grimm in his dance, she knew it._

_It was a price she was willing to pay, tenfold if necessary._

“ _Let’s dance, bug boy,” Yang snarled, holding her hand out. Grimm laughed, a deep baritone mixed with high pitched hissing and the sound of crackling flames, before grasping Yang’s hand._

_Dread red flames took her, before flowing over and consuming the spirits of the dead._

* * *

_Through dream I travel, at lanterns call_

_To consume the flames of a kingdom's fall_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for making y'all wait so long for the second part, but real life reared its ugly head. In addition, at times this chapter was hard to write. 
> 
> No Eyes is an interesting character. Even those who know about her might be surprised to learn about her original backstory (which was changed in the final version of the game). For the purposes of this fic I decided to take the theory that No Eyes and her followers tried to avoid the Plague by gouging their eyes out. As it stands, while not as terrifying as the Deepnest No Eyes is a most eerie boss, and that's when she's a ghost. Alive and with the ghosts of her followers? Yikes.
> 
> That being said, there wasn't many ways to change the No Eyes fight in an interesting way. So I decided to make No Eyes's lullaby a bit more dangerous than it was in canon (helps that she has ghosts on her side). If the Troupe Master hadn't showed up to 'help' Yang who knew what might've happened?
> 
> As for the Nosk fight, it is another wonderfully creepy moment in the game - made even worse since these Nosks are mimicking people. The macabre decor and the buildup to the fight was very fun to right. Unfortunately Nosk is an ambush predator through and through, so if the initial ambush doesn't work its mostly rushdown tactics to kill its prey. That doesn't always work - especially if your 'prey' are the Mantis Lords. 
> 
> The RWBY characters escape, but not totally unscathed. What happened to Ren while he was with the Mantises? What happened to Yang in the Greenpath Temple? Why does no one seem to like Weiss?
> 
> Tune in next time to find out!


	8. Intermezzio: Lotus from the Mud

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An Interlude,  
> in which Lie Ren  
> experiences the second worst day in his life so far

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and Hollow Knight do not belong to me. They belong to RoosterTeeth and Team Cherry respectively.
> 
> This chapter took both a really, really long time and no time at all, somehow. Either way, please enjoy the show!

**Intermezzio: Lotus from the Mud**

Professor Ozpin didn’t want to have to do this. Lie Ren had, out of all of his students, come the closest to dying. Weiss Schnee had fared the best, with light bruising across her legs. Blake Belladonna had a lump on her head and a sprained shoulder. Nora Valkyrie suffered bruises across her entire body. Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, and Ruby Rose all were shaking off the affects of what was in essence an anesthetic so heavy they might not have woken up. And Yang Xiao Long had undergone the same, but now had the smell of strange magic all around her after their ‘miraculous’ rescue from the no eyed bug.

Ozpin would have to speak to her about that. How had things gone so wrong so quickly?

And Lie Ren. Lie Ren, who was only a first year, was in the infirmary with multiple lacerations across his torso and arms, a long gash over his right arm that had come perilously close to bone. Puncture wounds across his legs, the faint traces of a mild toxin in his blood. With the exemption of a few cuts across his torso and his arm wound, all of his injuries had been haphazardly healed by his aura. His aura that broken - as far low as a person's aura could be without their body starting to shut down. Suffice to say Lie Ren was suffering under symptoms of starvation, dehydration, and severe exhaustion. This wasn't to say his wounds hadn't been patched. They had, with bandages made from a substance like silk but not quite and an unknown paste that Ozpin had to assume was herbal. Herbal or no, Beacon's doctors had panicked at the thought of unknown medicine coursing through Lie Ren's body and had scrubbed him clean and redressed his wounds.

Lie Ren had been passed out for most of that. It was a testament to Lie Ren's own dogged will that the boy was now awake.

The Headmaster desperately wished he could let Lie Ren rest. The boy looked only seconds away from passing out, bags under his eyes an ugly purple and skin sallow. Despite obvious exhaustion Lie Ren gave Ozpin his full attention. Ozpin didn't dwell on how that attention flickered every so often, Lie Ren scanning over the room for threats.

Putting on the best reassuring smile he could, Professor Ozpin sat down on the bed next to Lie Ren – the bed that had narrowly become Nora Valkyrie’s till Ozpin had managed to convince her to sleep in her dorm – and spoke to his student.

“I know it’s been a long day, Mister Ren. But I need you to tell me everything that has happened to you.”

Lie Ren stared at Ozpin for a moment. Before taking a deep breath and beginning his tale.

* * *

_It’s okay darling...Everything’s okay…_

* * *

He’d barely managed to escape the monster. The monster that had worn his mother’s face, that had dragged him deep into the darkness and-

His leg twinged, and Ren pressed the makeshift bandages that he’d sacrificed part of his shirt for against the wound. Warm blood seeped through the fabric. It wasn’t closing as fast as it should’ve. He was burning through his aura fast. Too fast. He’d have to turn off his Semblance before his aura became too thin. But not here.

Skittering and hissing and shrieks and screams echoed all in the darkness that surrounded him and he needed to be alert. One wrong move and he’d…

Panic would be reasonable. Panic would kill him. With the help of his Semblance he dulled the edge of panic, smothered the fires of rage, pushed away the waves of terror. It’s why he’d practiced with his aura day after day since he’d awakened it. It wasn’t as powerful as Nora’s High Voltage, or as flashy as Yang’s Burn. But at the end of the day, it kept him alive. Ever since he was a kid, it had kept him alive.

Ren slowed down, taking deeper breaths. After a moment of listening to the background cacophony, he dialed down his Semblance. Enough to give himself a break, but not enough to let everything crash over him.

He had to escape. Get out of here and back to Beacon. The question was how? The monster had attacked him, dragging him away into the shadows and these caves. If it had been human, he’d have said some sort of teleportation semblance. But that monster _was not_ human. Was he even in Vale anymore? Could he even get back-?

Ren unclenched his jaw as Tranquility flowed through him again, beating away panic and despair. His mind no longer clouded or buzzing, his path became clear. Not easy, but…

He had to find the surface. Had to escape these caves. Then, he’d find his way back to Beacon. To Nora.

The surface.

Muttering an old prayer his father had once taught him, Lie Ren continued to walk.

* * *

_Lie...You have to run!_

* * *

He was in a larger cavern now. Stretching his arms out, he didn’t brush up against walls or a ceiling. Not for the first time tonight, he wished he had the night vision of a faunus, or even just a flashlight. Anything to navigate the labyrinthine mess he’d been dragged into. At least Tranquility increased his ability to sense the aura of others, through their emotions. The stronger the emotion, or the more malevolent, the easier it was to feel.

Perhaps he should count it a blessing that everything in this forsaken place wanted to eat him.

There was no rhyme or reason to these caves. Not built by humans or faunus then. Considering the chittering and shrieking and the blankets and curtains of sticky webs covering the floor and ceiling, Lie Ren had an idea of what had created these caverns. He’d already had the pleasure of meeting most of it’s inhabitants – multiple eyes suddenly appearing in the dark before small spider shaped lumps the size of his head mobbed him, pillbugs with teeth like beowolves that boiled from the ground in a shrieking swarm. At one point he’d found the corpse of a beetle that was only a head shorter than him, and scarcely had a moment to wonder before it twitched violently, spindly legs bursting from its carpace in a twisted mimicry of the monster than had brought him here.

Had he not been using his Semblance, he’d have wasted a clip of ammo then and there. Not that is mattered much anymore – he was down to half a clip. Jaune had once asked him why he kept Stormflower on him all the time. Lie Ren had managed to shift the conversation to different topics without answering his team leader’s question. Jaune was a nice guy. He didn’t need to know why Lie Ren carried his weapons around all the time, or why Nora was so eager for a fight.

No matter. Yang had called it paranoia, and part of Lie Ren took solace in the fact that he could prove that he _wasn’t_ paranoid, simply cautious, to the blonde brawler when he saw her next.

If he ever saw her at all.

  
  


His aura flickered as struggled to keep Tranquility. He couldn’t loose it now. He could drop it later, when he was finally free. He had to – needed to think clearly.

Engrossed in the herculean effort of fueling his semblance with the dwindling reserves of aura he had, he didn’t notice the loose stones under his sandals shaking till the monster burst from the ground. In the total darkness, his eyes could barely make out its shape – only sharp edges and glowing eyes the size of his head high over him. Through his aura…

It was easily as big as a tram, as long as a small train. Most of it’s body was still in the ground, even as it loomed over him. And it was mad at him. Very mad.

He scarcely had a moment before the monster lunged towards him. Body protesting, Ren kicked the ground, propelling himself into the air as the monster plunged into the stone like a knife through hot butter. Stumbling on the landing he twisted out of the way as it erupted from the ground. Tips of exoskeleton brushed against his fingers and Lie Ren poured some precious aura into his palm, blasted the monster with a palm strike.

The hope had been to pierce the exoskeleton, drive the creature away with pain. For all that it wanted to eat him, it wasn’t a Creature of Grimm. It lacked the sheer hatred of all life that made up humanitites monsters. Instead he heard his palm blast splash against the creature’s skeleton. Burning it to the point it glowed red but not breaking it. The creature shrieked and Ren stumbled. Tranquility dropped, black dots filled his vision and suddenly he couldn’t get enough air no matter how hard he breathed. His aura fizzled in erratic bursts of pink, no good no good no good-!

The monster reared over him, glowing eyes boring into him.

It lunged.

A bolt of white light streaked through the darkness, a bright comet, slamming into the creature’s face. Ren blinked furiously, eyes burning from the sudden light. The creature’s shrieks drilled into his ears, the ground thundering underneath him-

As the creature ran away.

In the sudden too silent darkness, Lie Ren first heard soft footsteps. Then a dim orb of light, floating closer and closer into view. Lie Ren gripped the half of Stormflower he still had and forced Tranquility. Just as the tide of emotions that had almost drowned him ebbed away, the being holding the lantern came into view.

“Oho! And what might you be?”

Definitely not human. Not faunus either. They were...the best Lie Ren could describe them was as a blob of darkness that was roughly human shaped. Much shorter than him, though the large snail shell they wore as a helmet helped matters a bit. Blank white eyes, that glowed brighter than the muffled yellow light of the lantern that dangled from his knobbly staff, observed him. The top of the staff was decorated with a bug’s white ‘skull’. A garland made of tiny white masks adorned its neck. Lie Ren couldn’t discern any expression from the inhuman figure. At the very least whatever it was, it didn’t hold any malevolent intentions for him.

After everything, that was an unparalleled relief.

“I...” Lie Ren coughed, throat dry. The snail creature waited patiently, staring at him with unblinking eyes. “I am Lie Ren.”

“Oho?” the snail creature laughed in a soft pleasing voice, “And what might be a Lie Ren at home?”

“I’m sorry?”

“What might you be apologizing for? Did you commit some sort of crime? Ohohohoho!”

Lie Ren stared, nonplussed. Had a night full of monster’s robbed him of the memory of horrible jokes, of all things? Shaking his head, Ren replied the best he could.

“I’m a human. From Beacon.”

“Human? Never heard of them before. Your kingdom of Beacon must be a strange and _bright_ place, ohohoho!”

“Beacon’s not a kingdom,” Ren corrected before he could stop himself, still offbalance, “It’s an Academy in the Kingdom of Vale.”

Even if this strange being had never heard of Beacon, surely they’d have heard of Vale. Right?

“Oho? Kingdom of Vale? Never heard of it. What might a Vale be?”

As Ren pondered for the first time why Vale was named Vale, the snail creature chuckled.

“I myself am a simple Snail Shaman. From the Kingdom of Hallownest, I suppose. Though I’m afraid the both of us are far from home now, ohohoho!”

“Where...Where are we?” Lie Ren stopped his hands from shaking. Couldn’t drop Tranquility now. He couldn’t.

“Oho? You _ar_ _e_ a stranger to these lands then. This is the dreaded Deepnest!”

“Deepnest?”

The Snail Shaman hummed.

“Tell me, this academy of yours. It is a warriors academy, is it not?”

“I-It’s an academy for hunters,” Ren said, taken aback.

“Oho? Wonderful! You see, I’m in need of some help. My dear demesnes, a safe haven for weary travelers, has been infested. I am but a humble Shaman, and was driven out of my temple by the beast. But you! You have quite the skill in battle, ohoho! Surely you could clear my home out with no problem!”

Lie Ren shouldn’t trust the Shaman. But the truth of the situation was clear. As sleazy as the Shaman seemed to be, they hadn’t done a thing to hurt him. Yet. But it wasn’t as if he could put up much of a fight. Ren knew that if he declined the Shaman’s request, all that they would do is shrug their shoulders. And leave Ren to die.

A temple. A safe place to recuperate. A place out of this hellhole.

Tranquility thankfully kept the desperate urge to say yes at arms length. Instead Ren said, “I’m afraid I might need a moment’s rest to help you.”

“Oho? You agree to assist me then?”

When Ren nodded the Shaman let loose a hearty laugh.

“Ohohohoho! Such a generous soul you are! To help me in my time of need like this...Yes, there is no doubt Lie Ren. You are a dear new friend, ohohoh! Yet, my new friend, it is not wise to dally in the Deepnest.”

“Just need to catch my breath,” Ren wheezed.

“You need more than that I’m afraid. You’re burning through your Soul to keep that power of yours awake. Worry not! Your new friend happens to be adept in matters of the Soul, ohohoho!”

The Snail Shaman grasped their staff with both stubby hands and began to wave it around, humming. The skull atop the staff began to glow and-

Something that felt like pure white aura began to coalesce in mid air. Ren looked away, the sudden bright light burning his eyes. The stale air around them whirled around before calming once more. A hum had filled the cavern. When Ren looked back, a gentle glow hovered over both him and the Snail Shaman. In the middle of that glow was a shifting blob of white aura.

“What…?” Ren began.

“Ohoho! Have no fear, my friend Lie Ren. That right there is a little nasty spell of my own creation! I feel that it would suit you very well, ohoho!”

Lie Ren stared at the blob of aura. The Snail Shaman hummed happily.

“Go on, take it! Do not be afraid! That spell belongs to you now! You’ll have need of it, ohohoho!”

Lie Ren stared for a moment longer.

This was a bad idea, on multiple levels. But…

Unbidden, Nora popped into his mind. Gritting his teeth, Lie Ren stood up and grabbed the ‘spell’

The sudden flood of strange aura that filled him shocked him so much that he dropped his Semblance. For a brief moment the calm that Tranquility brought hung about in the air, delicate as freshly fallen leaves

Then everything crashed over him. The panic, the despair, the fear. The hatred. His mind was filled with images of Kuroyuri in its last moments. His home burning, the hordes of Grimm washing over the populace and tearing them apart. His mother’s worried smile, the last she’d given him as she tried to comfort him seconds before their house collapsed, burying her under tonnes of rubble. His father, injured but running off to face the monster that had destroyed their life. The Grimm that was man and horse fused into one abomination. Kuroyuri destroyed, him and Nora the only survivors. The hunger that followed as they tried to find any sign of civilization in the wilds of Anima. The gnawing hunger that grew worse as Ren overtaxed his newly discovered Semblance to hide them from the Grimm. The bandits who hadn’t cared that they were just children. That would’ve killed them, or worse, had that storm not rolled in. His mother, body twisting and contorting as the legs of a spider erupted from her skin-

Ren was floating in the air. Someone was screaming and with a start he realized it was him. Pain and rage and fury filled his being, overflowing-

Everything went dark.

* * *

_Listen to me son...You have to be brave now...Do you understand!?_

* * *

“Oho? You’ve woken up!”

Lie Ren’s eyes opened, and he became aware of several things in quick order.

He was no longer in a dark cavern but was in a small cave, grimy lanterns giving off a dim light. He was on top of some bedding, thin blankets underneath him and what looked like a ribcage over him. On the walls of the strange ribcage hut, white masks stared down at him with empty eyes. Startled, Ren sat upright. He saw the Snail Shaman sitting outside the hut.

Lie Ren snarled silently. The urge to shatter the Shaman’s hat, then break that staff and snuff out that light caused his aura to boil.

Swift at the heels of those vengeful feelings came horror and shame, and Ren slammed open Tranquility. His semblance chased away the dark feelings. But unlike before, they did not disappear. Ren could still feel them, lurking under his skin.

“ _What did you do to me?”_ Ren hissed.

“Oho? My apologizes! I’m afraid I should have warned you about the power of that spell. The last one who accepted it had also fainted, ohoho!”

Ren took a deep breath, once more thankful for his Semblance’s calm. His aura was no longer dwindling, no doubt because of the Shaman's 'spell'. Ren didn't dwell on that too much. Aura transfusion, outside of specific semblances, were something modern science still couldn't do. That a strange inhuman being had managed it so cheerily...

“Ohoho! Quite the neat little spell you have yourself! To be able to keep your calm, even when you sorely wish to hurt me. Now don’t look so surprised, ohohoho! The moment I laid eyes on you, Lie Ren, I could see the darkness that cloyed your soul. Nothing to be ashamed about! We’ve all been shattered by life, one way or another. Ohohoho! That why I decided to create the spell Vengeful Spirit! That darkness inside of you, that urge to hurt the world that hurt you? The spell twists those feelings and uses your Soul to give it lethal form, ohohoho!”

Lie Ren took another breath, and looked at his hands. Grey and de-saturated, Tranquility having leeched the colour from him. Yet still he could feel the darkness lurking underneath the calm.

His darkness.

“Is it...truly just my own?” he wasn't sure what answer he wanted.

“Ohoho? Thinking that I gave you some of mine, Lie Ren? Ohohoho! I’m flattered, but my vengeance shall be mine alone. All I gave you was my spell and some Soul. I’m dead tired, to be frank. But neither of us are dead, are we? Ohohoho!”

Lie Ren sat there for a moment more. Before crawling out of the hut and standing up. The Snail Shaman stood too, gazing at him with those blank white eyes.

“Where is this temple you spoke off?” Lie Ren asked, letting Tranquility flow away. The darkness returned as the calm flowed away, but Ren was in control of himself again.

“Ohoho? Quite eager to honour your promise? Not that I’m upset, ohohoho! If only more folks could be as honourable as you, Lie Ren!”

Lie Ren brushed against the pockets of his pajama pants, feeling half of Stormflower’s weight. Taking out the jade bladed-pistol and twirling it around, he stared at the Shaman.

“Lead the way.”

* * *

_Take action, son…_

* * *

“Ohoho! Don’t worry about this gate, I’m sure it will open once you’ve rid the temple of the wretched beast inside. I’d join you, but giving you my spell has exhausted me. I’d be of no use to you but as a distraction, ohoho! Don’t fear! My ancestor’s spirits are most definitely looked over you, ohohoho!”

It was almost refreshing, dealing with someone as straightforward as the Snail Shaman after the Deepnest. The Snail Shaman just wanted him to do one selfish little task, and would no longer bother Ren. He could respect that.

Giving the horizontal bars that had closed the entrance of the temple as soon as Ren had stepped into it a droll look, he made his way further into the structure. On the walk from the hut, Ren had managed to calm himself to the point that he no longer needed Tranquility. It helped he was no longer in the Deepnest, though he was still underground. There had been brief torches that had light the way, fires flickering in the darkness and illuminating the deep purple rock that made up the cavern walls. The temple was no less an eerie structure. Resembling a mound of stone held together by pillars of wood and ragged curtains of cloth more than any temple Ren had ever seen. Inside, Ren resisted the urge to take off his footwear. The Shaman hadn’t told him too, and the floor was-

-it seemed to be made up of stone masks. Thousands of them, piled together till they made a solid floor. Empty eyes stared up at him as he made his way further into the structure. From the walls, stark white masks resembling no Grimm he’d ever seen silently observed his progress.

Ruby, he thought with a slight shudder, would enjoy this place.

It wasn’t just the macabre decoration that sent shivers down his spine. It was plain as day that the temple _hadn’t_ been made with humans in mind. There were no stairs whatsoever to be found. Sheer walls stood between him and ascending to the upper floors of the temple. Brushing a hand against the stone Ren felt hundreds of indentations. Marks from where others had climbed it perhaps?

Ren skipped the need to emulate whatever other pilgrims had done before him, running forward and jumping onto the next floor. Again and again, and the absence of stairs wasn’t the only alien architecture he found. At one point he entered a large chamber whose floor was a bed of spikes. Ren mutely observed the lethal flooring before glancing at the islands of stone platforms of varying heights scattered across the chamber. The only way of crossing the chamber would to jump from platform to platform.

It was ridiculous. Even more so than the ‘temple’ Headmaster Ozpin had the first years travel to as initiation. Yet there was an ancient presence to the temple. Ren could _feel_ the ghosts of a hundred footsteps who had traveled the same path he was traveling now.

Just as he could feel the cold foreign presence deeper in the temple. The beast that the Shaman had spoke of, no doubt.

Ren forged onward, the cold feeling growing as he made his way further past strange architecture. The air became clammy on his skin. The torches were fewer and farther apart.

So cold it had become that Ren was surprised his breath wasn’t condensing. Dropping down into another large room, he barely had a moment to breath before the beast spoke.

“My my my! Who might _you_ be?”

It was a pleasant voice. Matronly, reminding Ren of a kindly nurse he and Nora had meet in Mistral. She had treated them to lunch and refused to accept any sort of payment, taking them to a local clinic afterwards.

A slender shape slithered from the shadows. A fat jet black worm, three pairs of spindly legs near her face. A mask with four eyeholes shaped like horizontal teardrops and a crescent moon smile gazed at him. Ren stepped back and the ‘beast’ giggled.

“Don’t be shy, little one. Not that I can blame you. Nasty little creatures roam these lands now. And you, my dear, seem to have run into some of the nastiest of them all.”

“Pardon?” Lie Ren asked. He didn’t reach for Stormflower. Not yet.

“I can see the silk cling to your skin, and I can see the wariness in your eyes. More than anything, I can smell home clinging to you. You’ve been to the Deepnest, haven’t you?”

“You’re from the Deepnest?” Ren asked.

“Why so surprised dear? Did you think the Deepnest was filled with nothing but monsters?” she snorted, “Typical fare for one of Hallownest, of course.”

“I am a stranger to both Hallownest and the Deepnest,” Ren said.

“I can see that dear. I’ve never seen a bug like you before. But you must be very, very strong to survive the land of the Weavers.”

“You mean the Deepnest.”

“Indeed! Don’t let the little bugs of Hallownest fool you. The denizens of the Deepnest are the most intelligent species that wander these lands. Minds deep enough to weave a history thousands of cycles long, and keen enough to match the fury of the Mantis, the numbers of the Fungaloids, and the power of Hallownest. Surrounded by enemies on all sides, but we of the Deepnest survive still. Perhaps that it why they call us monsters.”

“Perhaps its the way you welcome guests,” Ren deadpanned.

The ‘beast’ laughed. It was a rich and mirthful sound, even as she slithered closer around him.

“You cannot begrudge the nasties of the Deep for their hunger, my strange friend! Might is the law of the Deepnest, as it is everywhere. The hypocrites of Hallownest call us beasts. Tell me though, who it was that trapped you in this den with a ‘beast’? I expect that Shaman thought that you’d kill the poor old Midwife of the nest, or that you’d die by my hands and he could find some other unsuspecting fool to do the job again. Nasty people, those Shamans.”

Lie Ren watched her, noting that she had yet to say anything patently false. Mind whirling, he spoke.

“I had thought that the Shaman had referred to a simple monster when he asked me to do this. I am not comfortable hunting down a being who can speak.”

“How...noble,” the Midwife said at last. Her tone held nothing but polite confusion.

“You seem very wise, Midwife. I’ll soon be on my way, but first may I ask you a question?”

“Why of course!”

“Which way is the surface?”

Lie Ren waited with bated breath as the Midwife hummed in thought.

“The surface? My, my, but that is a faraway place. It’s been many years since I’ve seen it...I’m afraid,” the Midwife’s tone turned apologetic, “I’m afraid I can no longer...no longer remember the way...I haven’t eaten for a while and I’m…

F A M I S H E D...”

The Midwife’s mask split open, revealing beady eyes and jaws filled with rows upon rows of silver sharp teeth. With a harsh cry she lunged towards him. He managed to twirl out of the way of snapping teeth and pool aura into his hands. Blasts of pink scored across the Midwife’s skin, drawing a scream from her jaws. Ren leapt into the air to avoid jaws as the Midwife laughed.

“Naughty naughty! Just sit still, my strange friend, just one bite! Your blood smells D I V I N E!”

Ren ducked another dodge, but his body couldn’t contort the way the Midwife’s could. Ren bit back a scream as she turned around in a flash, jaws closing over his arm. Aura glowed as it resisted the Midwife’s razor bear-trap of a blow but did nothing to dull the phantom pain of fangs closing into his flesh.

It was automatic, Ren thought later. The darkness that had been festering inside of him since the Shaman had given him the spell writhed, and with a snarl he placed the palm of his other hand in the Midwife’s face.

Something inside him snapped, his aura pulsed, and a flash of light erupted from his palm. Pink aura, his aura, took the form of a shapeless wraith and rocketed forwards. Through the Midwife, who’s scream was like knives against a chalkboard, and smashing into the wall behind her. The attack left behind a ruined pillar and melting stone.

Ren stared in shock, even as the Midwife reared back, still screaming.

“Nasty, nasty, terribly little brat!” she shrieked. Her mask glowed red hot and her eyes were screwed shut. But the powerful attack had left no other wound and Ren realized with a start they she could still _smell him-_

With a roar the Midwife blindly lunged at him and Ren rolled out of her way. Stone shattered under her blow and she screamed louder, rage mixed with her pain.

It was there that things began to go wrong.

Neither he nor the Midwife noticed the way the floor crumbled as they fought. How the room shuddered after Vengeful Spirit destroyed part of the wall.

As Lie Ren prepared for the Midwife’s next attack, the floor underneath them buckled and fell apart, casting both human and bug down into the dark depths underneath the temple.

* * *

_I’m scared…_

* * *

If he ever got back to Beacon, he’d thank Headmaster Ozpin for his lessons on ‘landing strategies’. The light of the temple a faraway point above them, stone all around him, and a furious Midwife screaming and thrashing in the air.

None of this was ideal.

Ren tucked himself into a dive, dropping out of the range of the Midwife’s jaws. Dropping further into the dark, and whatever floor lay below. He had no intention of going splat. Throwing his arms out and angling towards the wall, Lie Ren brushed against stone before kicking off from it. His velocity took him to the next wall and he kicked off from that too.

Bouncing off walls like a demented pinball, Lie Ren fell. At one point he had to twist out of the way as the Midwife fell past him, lunging towards him in a desperate last attempt. He almost didn’t make the next kick. For the first time this night, luck was with him and he made it. Moments later he watched the Midwife disappear into the dark below.

It didn’t remain gloomy for long.

Lie Ren thought the first glowing spores a trick of the light. A product of a stressed mind stuck in the dark for too long. What was at first brief motes of yellow-orange turned into clumps and then a cloud thick as mist. Lie Ren coughed, almost missing the last jump off a wall that would stop him from slamming into the ground.

Hitting the ground in a tuck and roll caused a cloud of spores to violently explode into the already clogged air. The ground was spongy, a carpet of dirt and countless threads of fungus. Getting up to his feet and coughing as he tried to breath, Ren sacrificed the rest of his remaining shirt sleeve to turn into a mask.

It was difficult to see his surroundings. Glowing spores hung heavy in the air, ranging from as large as dandelion heads to as small as dust motes. This gave the air the look of city smog at sunset. Yet it was the brightest place he'd come across this night, and that he was thankful for. He had landed in what seemed to be another cavern. The walls and ceiling were obscured from his vision, thought that more had to do with the fog of spores than any assumptions on cavern size. Sprouting from the ground all around him were mushrooms as tall as trees. All dark green with orange-yellow spots. The floor itself looked like a light sprinkling of snow had passed the night before. But it wasn't frost but countless threads of mycellium, growing like grass in this strange cavern.

Lie Ren waited with shallow breaths. When he didn’t die or otherwise feel inconvenienced after several moments, he relaxed and counted his luck. That’s when he noticed a light, glinting in the gloom footsteps away from him. Taking out Stormflower, ready to fire at a moment, Lie Ren made his way towards the light.

The light turned out to be a small chunk of metal, scattered with the loose stones that had once been the temple floor. It was a button really, the type you’d pin to a shirt. The sight was so mundane that Ren couldn’t help but stare at it for a moment. Mundane as a button might’ve been, it too showed signs of being from Hallownest. Made from grey metal, it resembled an abstract carving of a housefly’s head. At least, that was the only way Ren could describe it.

Grotesque the pin might’ve been, Nora popped into Ren’s head once more. She had a small collection of pins among her scant few possessions. The pin found itself in Ren’s pocket before he could think.

It was a promise. He’d get out of here and give it to Nora. She’d probably laugh and call it gross, and-

“Lost in thought, D E A R Y?”

Ren threw himself to the side, just in time to avoid the Midwife’s attack. Eyes burned as more spores were thrown into the air. The Midwife cackled.

“Don’t think you can escape little ol’ me so easily, deary!”

The Midwife reared to her full height and Ren stumbled back, raising Stormflower.

Figures blurred from the spore-filled gloom, charging towards the Midwife. The Midwife screamed and thrashed as praying mantises as tall as Ren attacked her. Each mantis had dark blue abdomens and dull green carpaces. Their heads, bright white, weren't quite mantis but nowhere near human. Yet their beady black eyes held burning intelligence and fury in equal amounts. Bladed white limbs cut through the air and into the Midwife's hide, making a sound like swords clanging against armor.

"Defiler! Dark one!" a mantis with one eye missing hissed.

"Monster of the Nest! Evil One!" a mantis with blue markings painted under their eyes screamed.

The Midwife writhed and shrieked, ripping the head from the mantis with the blue markings off with a single bite.

Ren stared wide eyed at the violent frenzy, not sure what to do. Finally the Midwife screamed, bucking the remaining three mantises from back.

“Wretched, deplorable, despicable creatures!” The Midwife’s mask slammed closed and she turned tail and ran. Two of the mantises chased after her. The other, the one eyed mantis, watched them go before turning to the corpse of their comrade. Black eye filled with something akin to sorrow, but Lie Ren didn’t put Stormflower down.

The Midwife’s cloying hunger faded away with each second, yet the air still sparked with hostility.

A moment passed, and just as Lie Ren thought to speak the mantis twisted around and flung themselves at him.

“Wait-!” he cried out, dodging lethal limbs.

"Stranger! Enemy!" the mantis hissed.

“I don’t want to-!”

The mantis lunged with a sudden burst of speed and Lie Ren found himself on the ground. The mantis had managed to pierce through his once more low aura, scoring a shallow slash across his shoulder. Pinning him to the ground, razor limbs raised to rend him into pieces, Ren had no choice but to wrench his hand free and aim Stormflower’s barrel towards their head.

It was over in a matter of seconds.

Lie Ren pushed the body off to the side, scrambling onto his feet. He brushed hair away from his face, and his hand came back covered in white blood.

Tranquility was upon him in an instant, and Ren spent the next few moment cleaning himself and not dwelling upon _what_ he was cleaning.

He could justify himself easily. It was self defense. It was him or the mantis. They weren’t human.

He remembered the spark of clear intelligence that had burned into the mantises dark eye, the aura that had thrummed within them, and was thankful once more for his Semblance.

Moments later, as clean as he could be and wondering if he should bury the mantises, he heard the chatter of more in the distance. Alien words that were becoming louder by the second.

Not for the first nor for the last time that night, Lie Ren ran.

* * *

_Me too…_

* * *

The mantises were relentless.

The creatures of the Deepnest had been relentless as well, but they hadn’t been ruthless. Their aura had been hungry and voracious, not cold and lethal. Ren wasn’t sure how long he’d run through the fungal caves and spore filled caverns, several mantises right on his heels. Silent, swiping at him whenever they got close.

He was barely fast enough to outrun them, yet only just. The mantises could match him movement by movement in feats of acrobatics. At one point in a desperate attempt to finally lose them Ren had flipped into the air and onto a large mushroom, hoping it was as bouncy as the cave floor was. The mushroom had been all that and more, launching him into the air like a trampoline. But he scarcely had time to catch his breath as he climbed into a small cave in the wall before the mantises followed suit, leaping from the mushroom before climbing the sheer stone wall by slamming their limbs into stone like ice picks.

Firing bullets blindly behind him, he had managed to kill several mantises. For each mantis he killed, a replacement seemed to appear from the sporey smog. All around him he could feel dozens of other presences keeping up with the chase but simply watching. He was surrounded by mantises. Chased down like fox by hounds. Being hunted for sport.

Firing behind him once more, Ren cursed as the gun clicked. He had finally ran out. As if waiting, a mantis peeled away from the group and rushed towards him, bladed limbs stretched to skewer him. With a snarl he kicked it away before bringing his hands forward, Vengeful Spirit erupting from his being. The aural wraith smashed through several mantises, leaving behind burned corpses.

And the mantises around him paused.

Lie Ren ran. A desperate burst of speed to avoid the creatures hunting him. He only had a moments head start. He could feel the mantises begin to chase after him once more. He couldn’t keep up like this. They’d run him to the ground before long. He had to shake them loose someho-

The path before him forked, ever so slightly. A smaller cave off to the side of a larger opening. Ren lunged, sliding into the off-path and scrambling back to his feet. As silent as he could he made his way further into the tunnel, waiting with bated breath.

At the mouth of the tunnel, at the fork in the path, several mantises stood anxiously. Ren stopped breathing, stretching his Semblance to its limits to sense the slightest movement.

For a moment he thought his plan had worked. Then, as one, the group of mantises turned towards the tunnel and lunged. Ren stumbled back as they poured through the small opening.

Something behind him shoved him onto the ground, Tranquility fell apart, and since when was there something there-?

Ren rolled onto his back in time to see a massive figure slam the first of the mantises into a wall, cutting it clean in two with a blade as large as Ren himself. The rest of the mantises fared no better as the giant cut them into ribbons. Till there was only Ren, and the giant bug that had saved him.

The acrid smell of blood filling the cavern, Ren stood up on shaky feet as the bug turned around to face him. They were easily as tall as the Hollow Knight, and as wide as they were tall. Stout in figure, a deep blue carapace was covered by dark red armor. A thick blue cape of fluff flowed from their shoulders and practically encompassed them entirely. The massive sword was held in one hand alone, resting on the bug’s shoulder. Their head was a stern white mask with a pair of large eyeholes and a smaller pair below that almost looked like nostrils. Three horns jutted straight up into the air like a crown. A red headband tied tightly around their forehead. They were unlike anything Ren had seen tonight.

The bug stared down at him before snorting. Their voice was deep and gravely, echoing through the tunnel.

“What might _you_ be looking at?” the bug asked, acidly. His tone broke Ren out of his stupor and he began to bow.

“Thank yo-”

The bug shoved him out of the bow. As Ren stumbled back, the bug loomed over him.

“I have to wonder if you’re a fool or an idiot.”

“There’s a difference?” Ren grumbled.

The weight of the bug’s glare grew.

“Either you had picked a fight with the mantises on purpose and were attempting to lure them in here. Or you were an unfortunate creature who go lucky enough to survive the fury of the Mantis Tribe.”

“I wasn’t looking for a fight,” Ren growled, “I had no intention of even _being_ here!”

“That makes the both of us,” the bug grumbled.

Frustration melted away as Ren watched the walk past him, deeper into the tunnel. The bug walked like a warrior, steps light and sure, but there was a palpable feeling of exhaustion about his aura. With one last look towards the dead mantises, Ren hurried after the bug.

“Stop following me,” the bug snapped as Ren fell into step next to him.

“How can you be so sure that _I_ am following _you_ and not the other way around?” Ren asked, tone dully glib. As the bug muttered darkly under his breath Ren continued. “I could also simply be traveling in the same direction as you without any intention of following.”

“Yeah?”

Lie Ren nodded and the two of them walked in silence for a moment.

“The way I see it,” the bug finally said, “Is that you’ve got a mouth smarter than a Fool, and you’ll live for as long as one of them unless you stop following me.”

The giant bug whirled around, staring down at him and Ren’s eyes slid towards the massive blade. Before meeting the bug’s gaze.

“The way I see it,” Ren said quietly, “Is that I can take my chances with you or the mantises. Against one skilled foe or several ferocious one, I’ll always choose the one.”

“You want to take your chances with me?” the bug asked flatly.

“Don’t underestimate me just cause of my size,” Ren warned, “I won’t go down as easy as you might think.”

The bug starred at him. Sardonic laughter bubbling from his throat, the bug shook his head.

“I don’t know if you’ve seen yourself recently, but you look like hell. I don’t particularly know what hole you clawed your way out of-”

“It was the Deepnest.”

“-That would explain your appearance. You look like you’re holding yourself up by sheer will, and you want to fight _me?”_

“Not particularly. But I’d like to fight the mantises less.”

“You’ll need more fortune than you seem to have to avoid that,” the bug said darkly, “We’re both in the heart of the Mantis Tribe’s territory.”

Ren looked down from the bug’s gaze. For the first time he noticed the countless scratches carved into the bug’s armor. When Ren looked back, the bug’s glaze had turned glare. Without a word the bug turned around and continued walking. Ren followed him. To his mild surprise the bug didn’t say anything.

The both of them walked through the dark tunnel in silence. The spores, though still ever present, had thinned and Ren enjoyed the relatively clean air while he could.

“Never seen your kind around these lands before.”

Ren glanced at the bug. No other comment forthcoming, Ren turned his gaze forward once more.

“I’m not from Hallownest.”

“You’re not from nearby either. What brings you to these lands?”

“Mitigating circumstances.”

“Yeah?”

“By which I mean a monster dragged me into the Deepnest.”

The bug snorted and Ren continued.

“I’m a human. Have you ever heard of them before?”

“Never. Are all you ‘humans’ so squishy looking?”

“For the most part, yes. Our skeletons are on our insides.”

The bug paused and finally stared at him with an emotion that _wasn’t_ abject annoyance.

“You’re fucking with me.”

Lie Ren shrugged and clamped down on the urge to giggle. Ren had a feeling that the bug was scowling at him. The bug had probably been scowling at him this entire time, but Ren could say for certain that he _definitely_ was now.

Staring the bug straight in the eye, Ren clamped down on his right wrist with his other hand. After a moment of that he began flopping his hand around.

“For the glory of the nail, enough already!”

The bug stomped away and Ren bit back another bout of laughter before running after him.

“My name is Lie Ren.”

“Yeah?…I am called Nailmaster Oro.”

“And what might be a Nailmaster when at home?”

“You are either ignorant or truly alien,” Oro muttered, “Tell me at least you know what a nail is.”

“You mean that sword you carry?” Ren asked. Looking at it, it did resemble a nail in form, if only just.

“Blade, sword, nail. They all mean the same,” Oro grumbled, “For a moment I thought you truly were so ignorant as to not know what a nail was.”

“I favour smaller blades,” Ren twirled Stormflower in his hand. Oro gave the green weapon a once over before scoffing.

“What sort of design is that? Looks impractical.”

“It works well enough for me,” Ren shrugged, fidgeting with Stormflower’s blade. His weapon – or at least, half of his weapon – had been put through the wringer tonight. Even if he no longer had ammo, the last thing he wanted was for it to jam.

“You never did answer my question.”

“I have no obligation to answer whatever strange questions you ask, Lie Ren,” Oro was silent for a moment longer before grumbling, “Nailmaster. We who live and breath the arte of the nail and the life of battle. Disciples of the great Nailsage, the three of us became masters of the sacred nail artes.”

“Three?”

Oro’s aura became surlier. Ren watched him carefully.

“...My brothers.”

Ren didn’t ask his next question immediately. Rather he wrestled with the words till he was satisfied with them.

“What are they like?”

“Hmm?” For a moment Ren wasn’t sure that Oro would answer his question. “...My brother Mato is master of the Cyclone Slash and is skilled in his own right, strange though his notions of loyalty and honour may be. And brother Sheo was the greatest of us. Master of the Great Slash, our master’s star pupil. He was...aloof. Kind, mind you, but aloof.”

“And you?”

Oro snorted, giving Ren a glance he couldn’t decipher.

“I am the master of the Dash Slash. And no, I _won’t_ teach it to you. Not unless you got quite some geo on you.”

Ren filed away the question of what geo was and shrugged.

“I’m not terribly interested.”

“Oh? Think you’re too good for it?”

“Not at all. But I doubt out styles are compatible. You favour powerful strikes-”

“-And _you_ don’t?”

“I favour precise attacks,” Ren sheathed Stormflower and took the strange pin from his pocket. He needed something to fiddle with. “Get in the enemies face, hit them where it hurts and hit them fast, then dodge out of the way. Rinse and repeat.”

“That puny nail of yours enough to hurt?”

“Stormflower is a pair. I lost the other half in the Deepnest,” Ren traced the grooves of the pin and tried to ignore how much that stung, “And I’m not helpless without a ‘nail’. As my soul is my defense, so too is it my offense.”

Oro grunted, sounding begrudgingly impressed.

“Using Soul to fight? Didn’t take you for the type.”

“Do you not use aura?” Ren asked, surprised by the concept. Sure, Jaune didn’t use aura all that much in combat. But that was only due to inexperience. He’d never heard of a warrior who didn’t use aura.

“If you mean using my Soul, no. I have no interest in spellcraft. My life is devoted to the arte of the nail. Not that I begrudge those who use the Soul,” as Ren digested this anvil of a revelation Oro glanced down at the pin, “That explains the charm you’ve got there. It’s a Shaman charm isn’t it?”

“A what?”

Oro mimed for Ren to hand the pin over, and began pointing out the spiral whorls etched into the lower third of the charm.

“I’m no charm lover, but I’ve come across a few of them. These snail shell patterns are a sure sign of one of those Shaman’s charms.”

“...What’s a charm?” Ren finally asked.

Predictably Oro stared at him as if he were an alien. Ren couldn’t make out the grumbling that followed, but none of it sounded flattering.

“Charms,” Oro said finally, “You know, objects that bestow blessings – or curses – upon their wielders?”

“You mean to tell me this is a _magic_ pin?” Ren couldn’t help the skepticism for leaking into his tone.

“I don’t pretend to understand how they work. But they work. If you don’t believe me, that’s your choice.”

Oro shoved the pin – the charm – back into Ren’s hands. Ren stared at the circle of metal for a long moment before finally pinning it to the remains of his shirt.

The effect was immediate. He felt the charm pull on his aura, not enough to create a noticeable drain but enough to feel a tug. A tug that was almost lost to the immediate sensation of the world opening to him.

Ren was no stranger to his extrasensory abilities. Fully fledged hunters told tales of how they could sense danger coming and feel ill intent. Ren had learned long ago that as a child he already had that level of perception, and ever since then had worked to improve it till he could sense an attack from a block away. But this was something else. He could _feel_ the aura of his surroundings, truly feel it the way he could see light and hear sound. Oro’s massive banks of aura became sharper and clearer, so clear that Ren could practically see it as a cloud of white hanging over Oro's body. He could feel the minuscule flashes of the aura of the spores around him and the threads of fungi in the dirt under his feet.

That was more of a shock. Everyone knew that everything with a soul had aura – humans, faunus, even animals. The Grimm had no aura. But since the discovery of aura, the question of whether _plants_ had aura had plagued scholars, with no satisfying answer in sight.

“I’ve just answered one of life’s greatest mysteries,” Ren mumbled.

“Excuse me?”

Ren blinked as Oro waved a hand in front of his face. He realized that he had stopped walking and that Oro was steps ahead of him. The Nailmaster glared down at him, but Ren could see the concern bleeding into his aura.

“I’m fine,” the words were out of Ren’s mouth in an instant. Oro didn’t seem to believe him but didn’t press further, turning around and continuing to walk. Ren followed after him, a finger brushing against the charm.

It was pulsing. Ren was seized by the urge to rip the charm off and grit his teeth. The sensation wasn’t...bad. Just strange. But he’d be a fool to ignore how helpful this could be. It could be used for all sorts of things.

Such as sensing the hostile presences barreling down the tunnel behind them.

“Oro, we have hostiles inoming!”

Oro turned around. Had one look at Ren’s expression. And swore.

“Run!”

* * *

_We’ll keep each other safe…_

* * *

The mantises were steps behind them, and Ren hadn’t wondered why not one tried to lunge at them till he and Oro burst out of the tunnel into a large cavern filled with a veritable forst of mushrooms and a militia of mantises. Mantises staring down upon them from the tops of towering mushrooms, glaring down at them as they flew in the air. Ren barely had a moment to realize it had been a trap before the mantises were upon them.

“GYASOOOO!”

Ren stumbled under the force of Oro’s battle cry. There was a veritable pressure to it. Like the Hollow Knight’s cry, Ren thought with a start. Despite Oro’s insistence that he didn’t use aura, Ren could feel the aura charged into the cry. The mantises charging at them seemed pushed into the ground by the roar, and Oro wasted no time in capitalizing on that.

He charged forward with the grace of a dancer and all the strength of a bull. With every swing of his blade at least one mantis died, Oro's blade rending them into pieces. At one point Oro dodged several mantises trying to surround him by leaping high into the air, a distance of twice his height. The ensuing destruction caused by his blade-first slam into the ground distracted the mantises enough for Ren to slam his palms into several warriors who tried to capitalize on Oro wrenching his blade from the ground.

If it hadn’t been for Tranquility, Ren would’ve stumbled at the sensation of aura flowing into his being with every blow of his that hit. That would’ve inevitably lead to his death. Tranquility kept mute the kneejerk reaction of horror and revulsion as Ren realized that he was siphoning parts of the mantises own auras with every strike.

He had to take every advantage he could. His pool of aura was low enough as it was.

They trudged through the onslaught of mantises, Oro cutting a swath through the hostile tide and Ren dancing between his powerful blows and taking out stragglers that the Nailmaster had missed. It was like fighting with Nora, and Ren slotted himself as Oro’s backup easily. For a moment it seemed like they would manage to escape.

So caught up the frenzy of the battle, Ren didn’t notice the groups of mantises swooping overhead and dropping projectiles until it was too late. Ren saw the first of the projectiles – an orb of what looked like corded fungal thread – in his periphery and didn’t waste a moment kicking it away.

Under the force of his blow the orb exploded into a cloud of spores as thick as dustbunnies and sticky as glitter. Ren rocked back as several more spore bombs exploded around them, eyes stinging and senses assaulted by the amount of aura around him. Oro roared somewhere near him, but Ren soon lost track of the Nailmaster. Blind and overloaded, Ren ran. Striking out at random as he tried to escape the deathtrap that was the spore cloud. His wild strikes occasionally hit an unlucky mantis, but for every blow he landed his aura took a hit from a precise slash from every direction.

Scream tearing from his throat Ren unleashed a Vengeful Spirit from both his hands. Chitin searing and crunching, Ren bolted. Running till the air surrounding him thinned, till the world around him wasn’t so bright with life-

The ground underneath him changed from dirt to wood and Ren tripped, tumbling across the floor. Tranquility broke and phantom pain spiked across his body as his low aura tried to shield him from the sudden blow. Scrambling to his knees with a hiss, Ren scrubbed his eyes free from the film of spores blinding him. Blinking away tears, Ren found himself in a dark wooden corridor. Strange patterns and slashes were scored into the walls. The wood itself was nothing that Ren recognized, purple brown in colour.

Ren was broken out of his sudden shock by the harsh hisses and clicks that he’d come to recognize as mantises. Ren wasted no time getting to his feet and running back the way he had come, toward the outside world.

In hindsight he shouldn’t have done that.

A group of mantises awaited him outside. When Ren whirled around several mantises had already blocked the corridor. The corridor turned out to be the entrance to a sprawling clump of wooden structures shaped like young bamboo shoots, a massive boxlike structure in the middle of the clump. Hundreds of mantises climbed and clambered over the buildings, many watching him. And high above him, standing on top of the walls separating the buildings from the outside cavern, were three tall figures.

Mantises, unlike any of the smaller ones he’d fought so far. Willowy in figure, clothed in black shoulder cloaks that draped over their shoulders and reached their ‘waists’. White heads tapered into a pair of tall dark blue horns rather than antennae, like the high crowns of ancient Mistrali rulers. Their arms did not end in blades but in hands. In each of their hands was held a silver lance longer than they were tall. The way they held the weapons shattered any hope that they didn’t know how to use them, and Lie Ren realized with a sinking feeling that he was about to die.

He shifted into a combat stance, Tranquility leeching the colour from his body even as his aura flickered. He felt too cold and too hot at the same time, and desperately wished he could just collapse. Discipline was all that kept him from doing so.

The first of the great mantises spoke. Her voice was deep and cold as stone.

“Thou hast greate courage, to draw thy nail against us.”

The second great mantis spoke, her voice quiet as velvet and strong as steel.

“Strange creature garbed in verdant tatters and who beren the marks of combat most arduous. Thou arte most brave or most foolish, of which I cannot say.”

The third great mantis spoke, her voice raspy and biting as fire.

“Dispense thy nail, o forein wirling! Wight who hath invaded our village, thy fate is sealed! Only death awaits thee!”

The mantises surrounding him were silent. Waiting to see what happened, Ren realized. He met the eyes of the three great mantises. The third bristled as he did and they all tensed. Not out of fear, but anticipation.

“And if I refused to let myself die by a mob? To kill anymore of your people?”

The third mantis scoffed.

“Thou hast no choice. Kill lest you be killed! In these lands, the law is thus!”

“Unless...” the second interjected, “Thou hast faith in thy strength, faith in thyself to best us in combat.”

“Thou wilst die either or!” the third snapped.

The first great mantis stared down at him.

“Speak, pitiful creature. Wilst thou stake thy honour and meet the Lordes of the Mantis in battle?”

What else could he do?

“I have far too much to live for-” Ren began, tone cold and dark as Vengeful Spirit churned under Tranquility.

“As dost every life,” the third lord scoffed, “Thou thinke thy honour is moren in importance to others?”

“I still have yet to have my vengeance,” the scream of the Grimm that had killed his parents echoed in his mind, “Nor have I found my justice. I have yet to admit my love,” Nora hanging upside down from a tree, grinning from ear to ear as she bopped his nose with a finger. Ren took a deep breath, trying to ignore his fluttering heart.

“Mostly I just refuse to die here,” he finally said.

The Mantis Lords stared down at him.

“A most excellent sentiment,” the first said, and that was all the warning he had before she appeared inches before him in a flash, lance raised to skewer him.

* * *

_...What’s your name…?_

* * *

Fighting the Mantis Lord was ten times worse than fighting Ruby Rose. A great deal of that might’ve been because Ruby was a cheerful girl who tried to get along with everyone and was the sort of person to try to trap a bug under cup and release it rather than killing it. The Mantis Lords was not.

That minor difference in personality aside, they had startlingly similar styles of fighting. Rolling out of the way of the Mantis Lord’s first jab Ren aimed his palms towards where she should’ve been, hoping to end the fight with one well timed strike of Vengeful Spirit. What he instead saw was nothing followed by the Mantis Lord materializing overhead, lance pointed downward.

Lunging out of the path of the Lord’s attack seconds before she slammed into the ground Ren watched the Lord dash away with a speed that would make even Ruby pause. A beat of the heart later she was in in front of him, lance aimed at his chest.

Metal passed scant inches past him as Ren ducked. Without wasting a single moment Ren twisted in close to the Mantis Lord, palms pulsing with aura as he slammed them into her. He was rewarded with a hiss before she disappeared, reappearing at the edge of the crowd. Ren bit back a curse as she slashed her lance, a discus of razor air peeling from her blade and hurtling towards him.

Ren saw the flaw in her attack as he desperately dodged and then jumped as it curved back like a boomerang. She stood still, concentrating on the razor wind and he could feel her aura inside the attack-

The moment the discuss missed him a second time she dashed out of sight and was upon him again and Ren had little time to think.

Twirl, duck, lunge, dodge. The Mantis Lord’s assault was unrelenting in ferocity, and her speed never flagged. Ren got several more stray palm strikes in, narrowly avoiding blows that would shatter what aura he had and skewer him through in an instant, before the perfect moment made itself clear once more.

The Mantis Lord dashed out of the way of a kick, appearing behind him at the edge of the crowd once more. Lance curled back, aura pooling-

The moment the Mantis Lord swung her lance, disk of razor wind whirling towards him, Ren launched two Vengeful Spirits in quick succession. Sapped of energy he couldn’t manage to get out of the way of her attack in time, the edges of the disk cutting through his aura and slicing a gash in his arm.

His following grunt of pain was echoed by the Mantis Lord as his aura slammed into her, burning her carapace and sending her stumbling. Ren watched with bated breath, grey-red blood dripping down his arm as she disappeared, reappearing at next to the other two Mantis Lords.

Had he done it?

Not even Tranquility could prevent the cold pit that opened in his stomach as the other two Mantis Lords, as one, leapt from their perch onto the ground. The world seemed to close in on itself, a low buzz in his ears muffling the cry of one of the Mantis Lords as she charged at him.

Her lance never reached her. A massive blur of red and blue slammed into her, sword slashing through the air with such speed that a sound like a distant thunderclap followed.

“What is the meaning of this?”

All three Mantis Lords sat high above them. The one with the furious voice spat down at him and Nailmaster Oro, who stood between Ren and the Mantis Lords.

“Who art thou, daring to interfere in our duel?!”

Buzz fading away Ren became aware of the angry clicking coming from the mob of mantises around them. Oro’s gaze never turned away from the Mantis Lords.

“I am Nailmaster Oro, disciple of the Great Nailsage!” he bellowed.

“The Nailsage?” the soft spoken Mantis Lord asked, tone curious.

“I care not who thou art, miserable curr!” the angry Lord snapped, “Wretched wirling! Honourless wretch!”

“My brothers and I seem to have more honour than you could ever hope for, Sisters of Battle,” Oro growled, “Never did I think I’d see the Lords of the Mantis Tribe fight against an opponent already so bloodied.”

The angry Mantis Lord erupted in a string of apoplectic clicking, Even the calmer Lord seemed furious at Oro’s words. Both stilled as the Lord Ren had defeated held up a claw.

“What dost thou care, Nailmaster?” she asked.

“The being called Lie Ren is my disciple,” Lie Ren fought back a choking cough as this was said, “And what Master does not come to the aid of their Student?”

“Speak thy meaning whatsoever Nailmaster,” she hissed, “These lands are not Hallownest, our laws not thine. To intercede in a battle of honour is to condemn you and the strange one to death.”

“Are you simple beasts, Lord of the Mantis?” Oro asked. Before the Mantises could tear them apart he continued. “Nay, you are not. The Nailsage spoke highly of your honour. How you upheld the bargain you made with the King of Hallownest ages after its fall. How when your kin turned their backs on your code of honour you cast them out from the tribe. You fight for the well being of your tribe. Just the same I will fight for my student!”

A silence followed Oro’s proclamation. Lie Ren stared at the Nailmaster in no small amount of wonder and bewilderment.

“Thou stake thy honour, for thy student?” the Mantis Lord finally asked.

“I do,” Oro growled. Ren started as under his breath Oro muttered.

“Come on human, get up.”

“What?”

“Fight, or we’re both dead.”

As one the Mantis Lords stood up, grasping their wrists and popping them with a sharp crack. The following battle cry sparked some primal part of Ren’s soul into action.

“DHR’OSSA!” the Mantis Lords yelled, voices blending together into a single contralto cry.

“GYAAAEEESSSSOOO!” Nailmaster Oro bellowed in reply

Ren scarcely had time to pull himself together as the Mantis Lords disappeared and reappeared around them, lances braced as they lunged as one.

* * *

_Nora…_

* * *

“Hmph. Waking at last?”

Lie Ren grumbled, curling the blanket closer around him and rolling away.

“Nora...” he complained.

Moments later he crashed into the wall. Sitting up with a panicked gasp he found Nailmaster Oro standing over him, expression unimpressed.

“Feh. Falling asleep at a time like this,” Oro grumbled.

Ren blinked, still dazed by sleep. Looking down at his ‘blanket’ revealed Oro’s cape which the Nailmaster ripped out of his hands. The room wasn’t Beacon’s dorm room but a small wooden room whose only entrance was bared by a gate.

Memories of the battle came rushing back at Ren at the same time the pain did. The entire thing had been a terrifying blur, the Mantis Lords attacking and disappearing in a chaotic harmony. No one ever staying in one spot for more than a moment, Ren desperately trying to bat away a precise blow that would kill Oro while he tried to deal with the other two Lords. Even with the vampiric charm he wore, his aura had broken halfway through the battle.

Looking down at himself Lie Ren saw the aftermath. His shirt was now gone, sacrificed to patch the gash across his arm. His entire torso was wrapped in tight silken bandages, wounds stinging under the dressings. Trying to stand up Ren stumbled as pain tore across his hip. Oro watched, expression unreadable, as Ren slowly got to his feet.

“Did we…?” Ren hesitated, staring at the bars barring their room.

“We put on a good show,” Oro grunted. His chestplate had a long gash scored into it. “We have proven our honour to the Mantis Tribe. We’re safe.”

The Nailmaster looked away as Ren dissolved into quiet sobs. Ren viciously grabbed reign of his emotions after a moment of indulgence, schooling his expression and wiping away tears.

“S-Sorry about that.”

“No shame in it,” Oro grumbled, turning back and pushing a plate towards Ren’s feet. With some difficulty Ren managed to sit down and observe the food proffered. Thin slices of what he recognized as mushroom sat stacked on one side. To the other side were chunks of quivering white flesh that Ren hazarded might’ve been grub-flesh, though much bigger than any grub he’d ever encountered. A bright green sauce had been drizzled across it.

“What, you humans don’t eat stuff like this?” Oro asked.

“Lots of people would be repulsed by the idea,” Ren took some of the meat in his hands and took a bite out of it, careful to make sure he didn’t start ravenously devouring the food and choking. As delicious and surprisingly spicy as the food was, it would be an embarrassing way to go after everything else. “The grubs back home are about the size of my fingers. I used to fry them in a pan with salt,” he recalled fondly. It’d been ages since he made that dish. Nora had never tried it despite his insistence it was good.

“Grubs that tiny? How do you humans even feed yourselves...” Oro shook his head, “Not my problem. The Mantis Tribe are known to eat their food rawer than anyone who isn’t from the Deepnest. They substitute spice and sauce for the char of a flame.”

“Have you eaten?” Ren asked, tearing a bite from one of the mushroom slices. Aside from its taffy-like texture it tasted surprisingly like truffles, of all things. He’d given a small box of them to Nora for her birthday once, thinking that they wre the 'truffles' she'd been gushing about days earlier. It turned out she had been talking about chocolate truffles, which in turn had nothing to do with actual truffles, but they'd had a good laugh over it. As tasty as they had been, it hadn’t been worth the price.

“Don’t you worry about me. I can take care of myself.”

Oro fell silent as Ren continued to eat. After a moment, Ren finally asked the question that had been burning on the tip of his tongue.

“Why did you call me your stude-?”

“Would you rather have died?” Oro growled, “You should feel honoured. I don’t normally take charity cases. Since I’m such a nice fellow I won’t ask you to pay the 800 geo fee, unless you don’t shut your mouth.”

Ren watched Oro glower at him before smiling.

“Of course Sifu Oro,” Ren said, bowing.

Oro’s glower increased and the Nailmaster looked away with a grumble. Ren didn’t bother stopping the laughter that bubbled from his mouth.

* * *

_My name’s Lie Ren..._

* * *

When the mantis came, Ren couldn’t help but tense up. Anxiousness fizzled into polite bewilderment as the mantis opened the gates to the room and _bowed._ Ren couldn’t help but bow back and Oro snorted.

“Somouns from the Lordes of our People,” the mantis hissed.

“Best be going,” Oro grunted, standing up, “Guests we might be, but the Mantis Lords are a testy bunch.”

Ren kept a careful eye on the mantis, who had bristled at Oro’s words. Despite that the mantis did nothing else as they lead them to the Mantis Lords. None of the mantises they came across did anything to Ren or Oro as they traveled through the village of the mantises.

The Mantis Village, much like everything else he’d seen tonight, was unlike anything he’d seen before. Familiar in some ways but alien in others. Every room’s doorway was closed either by thick purple curtains or iron bars. The walls, covered in scratches and the occasional mushroom, were also covered by countless masks. No doubt from those unfortunate enough to have been hunted by the mantis tribe. Yet for all of their ferocity Lie Ren caught starling glimpses of tenderness. Mantises grooming each other, speaking to each other in lows hisses. Several airborn mantises chasing after each other in what looked like a game of tag. A mantis with countless tiny pale versions of itself walked past Ren and he couldn’t shake how curiously the mantis nymphs stared at him. The sounds of sparring and the scents of strange aromas filled the spore saturated air and though they were completely different in every way, Ren flashed back to his once home of Kuroyuri.

The Mantis Lords were waiting for them upon towering thrones of wood. The mantis that had guided them gave the Lords a deep bow before leaving. Ren did his best not to squirm under the gaze of beings who not too long ago had tried to kill him.

“Greetings, Nailmaster Oro. Disciple Lie Ren,” the first mantis lord spoke. To Ren’s surprise she and her sisters bowed to them.

“Greetings, Lord of the Mantis Tribe,” Oro bowed back, Ren following. “You called for us?”

“We have a question for thy student, Lie Ren,” the soft spoken Mantis Lord said. Ren glanced at Oro, who motioned for him to move forward.

“What question might you have, Lord of the Mantis Tribe?” Ren asked, trying to match Oro’s inflection.

“First answer us thus,” the surly Mantis Lord spoke, “What are thou? We hast never seen a creature such as thyself before.”

“I am a human,” Ren hesitated, wondering if he admit more.

“Speak thy mind, Lie Ren,” the first Mantis Lord drawled. Flushing a bit, Ren cleared his throat.

“I am a human, from Beacon Academy in the Kingdom of Vale. And before today, I had never seen bugs such as yourself,” Ren pressed on even as the Mantis Lords glanced at each other, “Never heard of the Mantis Tribe, or the Deepnest, or even Hallownest.”

“Truly?” the quiet Lord asked. The brash Lord scoffed.

“Surely thy jest! No matter how far thy kingdom lies, you must’ve seen beings such as us! And I doubt thy proclamation of ignorance on Hallownest. How could thou find thyself here without knowledge of its name?”

“I don’t know,” refusing to quail under the stares Ren continued hurriedly, “I had been wandering the halls of Beacon when...When I saw what looked like someone...close to me,” Ren’s tone could’ve etched metal, “Next thing I knew it turned into a monster and dragged me into the shadows. I barely escaped it, and next thing I knew I was in the Deepnest.”

Ren was barely done with his sentence before the sullen Mantis Lord slammed a fist onto her throne. Ren was almost certain that part of the throne had cracked from the blow.

“ _Nosk!_ ” she hissed, voice strangled by fury.

Not sure if that was yet another esoteric mantis swear word, Ren glanced at Oro. The Nailmaster seemed similarly confused by the word. It was the softspoken Lord who came to his rescue.

“A moste evil creature, foulest of the Deepnest’s spawn,” absently the Lord clawed at the arms of her throne, “Even the dark tribe who dwellest in the Nest abhor the Nosk, twister of hearts and emotions.”

Nosk. Finally a name to place to the monster.

“Thou didst well to escape the Nosk’s clutches,” the first Lord spoke. Ren blinked. There had been a glimmer of pride in that voice. Trying not to think to hard about it, Ren shrugged.

“I didn’t escape unscathed. Lost half of my weapon in the struggle.”

“That thou did escape with thy life, even caught twixt the Nosk’s clutches, means that thou ist luckier than most,” the quiet Lord spoke, tone droll. Ren couldn't help but flush at the gentle reprimand.

“Didst thou truly apparate here through sorcery, Lie Ren?” the grouchy Lord asked, voice sharp.

“I have no idea _how_ I showed up here. I don’t know if its sorcery. I’ve never-” Lie Ren’s words stuttered to a halt as he suddenly realized that he _had_ seen something like this. Very, very recently.

“Speak, Lie Ren.”

“A few days ago,” Lie Ren began, not sure where his next words would take him, “A classmate of mine summoned a creature called the Hollow Knight.”

You could’ve heard a pin drop in the ensuing silence.

“Did I say something wr-?” Ren began, wondering if he’d just signed their death warrant.

“Thoust given us much to think about, Lie Ren,” the first Lord interrupted, “My sisters and I must give thought upon all thou hast told us.”

That was a clear dismissal if Ren had ever heard one. As they were escorted out of the chamber room Ren turned towards Nailmaster Oro.

“Is there a reason they reacted so strongly to the Hollow Knight?”

“Can’t say. Don’t know much about them. They were Hallownest’s secret knight. The knight who wasn’t one of the Five Great Knights. Apparently there aren’t many records of him,” Oro grumbled.

“You refer to Hallownest in the past tense quite a bit,” Ren noted, “is there any reason why?”

“Hallownest is no more. The real one at least.”

“...The real one?”

* * *

_Boop!_

* * *

Ren stared out towards the outside of the Mantis Village, towards the Fungal Wastes. At least, a facsimile of the Fungal Wastes if what Oro said was true

“Let me get this straight,” Ren said at last, “This entire thing. Everything I’ve encountered. It's just a copy of the ‘real Hallownest’?”

“Don’t take that tone,” Oro snapped, “I’m just as much as in the dark as you are. All I know is that one minute I was in my den in the real Hallownest, and the next I’m in this...this twisted mockery, where nothing makes sense!”

“That’s why the mantises are...”

“Don’t be mistaken. They’ve always been prickly towards outsiders. But the current situation can’t be helping them.”

Ren nodded, mind still reeling.

“And that’s why you’re leaving.”

Nailmaster Oro gave his equipment one last look over before staring down at Ren.

“There’s nothing for me here. I intend to get to the bottom of this dark magic, and escape this false land.”

Ren nodded. That was fair enough. He wanted to do the same. To get back home.

“Are you sure-?”

“Your wounds will slow me down,” Oro turned around, “I have no wish to have to coddle you. The Mantises won’t decide to suddenly kill you, so have no fear there. You’ll only get in my way. And I’ll only get in yours.”

“Huh?”

Nailmaster Oro turned his head to the side. Dark eyes stared at down at Ren.

“You are my student, are you not? Forge your own path through this world.”

Before Ren could say anything, Nailmaster Oro dashed away. Though not as fast as the Mantis Lords, in mere moments he was a dark speck lost among the clouds of glowing spores.

Ren stood at the walls of the village for a moment more, aware of the gaze of several mantises on him.

“May fortune guide you, Sifu Oro,” he said at last.

* * *

_Nora…_

* * *

“-And that’s the story,” Ren shook his head, “Had enough time for a quick nap before the village alarm rang. They have an alarm for when denizens of the Deepnest attack, like we do with Creatures of Grimm. And when I learned that it was the Nosk...” Ren shrugged, “Imagine my surprise when I found Nora, Weiss, Blake, and the Hollow Knight.”

“Your friends were quite worried about you, Mister Ren,” Ozpin managed a ghost of a smile. Ren returned it with his own small haunted smile.

“Yeah...Is that all, sir?”

“All for tonight, Mister Ren.” Ozpin stood up, ignoring how his knees popped, “I won’t keep you up any longer.”

Lie Ren didn’t stay awake long after that. Ozpin stared at the face of his student, the bags under his eyes and the countless fresh scars across his body, and felt all the years of his age. Pressing fingers against his temples, trying to ward away the headache, Ozpin left the infirmary. The dark of the night exacerbated his mood. Eight of his students, in mortal danger in the span of a day. Coming only inches away from death's door and he had been _useless._

As Ozpin stood in silent halls, cursing the world and himself, moonlight flashed against the glass of the windows. And for the briefest of moments he saw rows upon rows of inhuman graves where his reflection should’ve been. And heard the shrieks and screams of Hallownest echo from the darkness.

  
  


_Your mother and I love you…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A semester of electrodynamics, quantum physics, stellar dynamics, and the whole pandemic bodied my writing hard. Writing the next chapter for this fic just wouldn't happen no matter how I tried. Till I tried another approach. Hence an interlude looking into what happened to Ren!
> 
> I'll repeat, Hallownest wasn't a nice place. I felt bad for Ren several times during this chapter. 
> 
> The Snail Shaman is an enigmatic character, though pretty much all NPC's in Hollow Knight are. I can't help but wonder why he created the Vengeful Spirit spell, and what keeps him bound to the (Real) Ancestral Mound/Temple. 
> 
> The Midwife is bonkers, but I don't think she's the sort of bonkers everyone else in Hallownest was. I couldn't find any sort of sign that she was infected by the Plague, which leads me to think that she was always just...like that. Presumably she was nicer to the dwellers of the Deepenst, but it still paints an interesting picture of life in the Deepnest. 
> 
> The Mantis Tribe is another fascinating topic, especially trying to consider how they work as a society. I decided to take the fact that none of the Mantises have dialogue in Hollow Knight as them not being fluent with the tongue of Hallownest, having their own native tongue and being unwilling to learn Hallownest's language due to their xenophobia. As such I peppered their dialogue in this fic with smatterings of Middle English. 
> 
> As for Lie Ren, like I said before I wonder how he and Nora managed to survive the wilds of Anima after their village was destroyed. Ren's semblance probably helped them with the Grimm, but what about the bandits? In addition, while bugs aren't normally food for most people in the West, I doubt Ren and Nora had the luxury to be picky. Fried grubs is the least disgusting thing that Ren as made canonically too, considering his 'nutritional energy drinks' cause Nora to grew nauseous just by thinking about them. 
> 
> I like to think that the Mantis Tribe gets their trademark spicy sauce by diluting the venom of certain Deepnest species. 
> 
> The next chapter shouldn't take the godawful time this chapter did. Thank you all again for reading this story!
> 
> Tune in next time!


End file.
